


Lost Boy

by igotphonecalls



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: And jeonghan too, Appreciate Wen Junhui, Confused Jun, Fluff and Angst, Gets really angsty, He's also poor, I mean who doesn't love a bit of Wonhui and Junhoon?, Jun is a smol bean but is sassy too, Jun is bullied a lot in this, JunHoon - Freeform, Junhui needs protected, M/M, MY IMAGINATION GETS THE BETTER OF ME OKAY?, Minghao is also a bxtch in it too though, Self-Harm, Tagging is fun???, Wonhui - Freeform, Wonwoo is a bxtch in this just saying, Wonwoo may be a bxtch but he turns into a softie, this all sounds depressing but there's fluff i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/igotphonecalls/pseuds/igotphonecalls
Summary: Junhui is a lost boy who thinks life is beautiful even though his life is hell.Wonwoo is the schools jerk.And Jihoon, is Junhui's lifeline.So what happens when he loses that lifeline and Wonwoo makes a bet with one of his friends that he'll make the boy whose name he doesn't know fall in love with him in two months?





	Lost Boy

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST WONHUI/JUNHOON FIC YASSSS for impact people: I came up w/ a playlist for you all to listen to while you read this fanfic bcuz impact (': Also Junhui suited the blue hair so much so HE SHALL HAVE BLUE HAIR IN THIS 
> 
> This is gonna be a really deep fic but there will also be fluff dnt worry 
> 
> I'll just write what song you should play when the time comes xDD NOW ENJOY ALSO ALL SONGS ARE ON SPOTIFY KAY? (note: I cried while writing this so...yeah)
> 
> Pls go easy on me this is only my first fic and I have a lot to improve on XDDDD

It's the same, usual, boring day for Wonwoo as he sits in his science class, desperately trying to drown out every single voice, _especially_  his teacher's. You wouldn't expect that from an A* student right? Well, Jeon Wonwoo was a special case. And special case meaning his parents paid his teachers to make his grade the highest it could be. So, that's no longer a 'white people' thing!

It's not to say Wonwoo didn't benefit from being in a rich family. He was the most popular boy in the school, he got whatever he wanted and he had people on the daily giving him love notes. He lived life like a king. But the truth is, he's **bored**.

Nobody dared to speak back to him if he ever said something insulting. Nobody challenged his judgement, apart from Jihoon but he was always with that 'weird kid' called...well, he doesn't know his name. He just knows he hangs out with someone who's too poor to talk to the 'most popular boy' in the school.

Speaking of Jihoon, as Wonwoo was shutting out everyone else, he looked out of the window, noticing two boys laughing together which he knew was Jihoon and that 'weird kid.' The pair were just playing with each others hands, dancing around in circles like idiots which was abnormal for Jihoon, considering he was cold-hearted to everyone else. So what made the ' **weirdo** ' any different?

"Why are you staring at the two freaks?" Minghao asked bluntly, pulling the older out of his bubble. "Because they're two freaks?" Mingyu laughed, elbowing Minghao which resulted in a Chinese burn from the shorter. "Maybe I'm staring at them because they're supposed to be in class and they aren't getting dragged inside like every other student would?" Wonwoo replied, still watching the two goofballs dance about.

"You forgot the fact that they aren't normal students. Well, maybe Jihoon is. But not the other one. Jihoon's just a weirdo when he's with him." Seungcheol added before taking down more notes.

"Got it." Throughout the lesson he just watched the two boys play about, keeping his attention especially focused on the boy with dark blue hair.

___________________

"So, you and weirdo huh?" It was now lunch time and Wonwoo just _had_ to ask Jihoon what was up with him and the boy he still had no name for. "Why are you talking to me? And don't call him a weirdo. The only abnormal one here is you." Jihoon scowled. Normally he'd just ignore Wonwoo but when you mentioned his best friend, you fucked up basically.

"Now, now, that wasn't nice. And to be honest...the only abnormal people here are you two. I just want to know his name is all!" Wonwoo grinned, feeling in the mood to annoy Jihoon further. "I'm sorry that the people you hang out with are so boring that you consider that to be _normal_ but you're not going to know his name. _Meaning_ , go back to your 'friends.' I'm sure they'll be _thrilled_ to have you back."

Some could say Jihoons voice was hostile, but if you had the school's most 'popular' boy come talk to you just because he wanted to make fun of your best friend, you sure as hell wouldn't be kissing his ass. "Jihoonie!" A boy with dark blue hair jumped onto the youngers back, causing him to fall down. "Yah! What are you doing?"

Instead of walking away, Wonwoo stood there admiring the boy's features. His blue hair was messy due to the fall, his lips were tinted pink and slightly agape, he had two moles near his lips, eyes large but gave off an innocent look, sharp nose and jawline but his other soft features balanced everything out. If he wasn't such a 'freak' Wonwoo might've found him attractive. Key word: **might**.

"Um..hi? Who are you? Are you one of Jihoonie's friends?"

"You don't know who I am?" Wonwoo asked, feeling slightly annoyed. "Am I supposed to know?" The boy replied back innocently but Wonwoo took every last word to heart. 'How could he _not_ know who I am?'

"Well _yeah_." He scoffed.

"I don't know you, sorry. What's your name?" He held out his hand, only to be rejected by Wonwoo. "Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo." Finally Wonwoo noticed how the others hand was being held by his best friend Jihoon which irked him.

"Oh! You're the school jerk right?" He asked, clinging to his best friend. "I'm not a jerk. Aren't you a jerk for saying that?" Wonwoo retorted, an angry frown now etching onto his face. "Jihoonie told me you once kicked someone then pulled them into the toilets to give them a swirly. Another time you punched someone in the face which ended up them having their tooth knocked out. Oh and just now you called me a weirdo and I bet other things! Yet you want to call _me_ a jerk?" He smiled innocently, taking off with his best friend.

_____________________

"I hate him. I swear to God I hate that blue-haired, abnormal, weird, rude, horrible dude." Wonwoo groaned in frustration, hitting his head off the lunch table. "The blue-haired dude? That rhymes by the way." Hansol looked over to where he was pointing, noticing the two boys instantly because of their hair colour.

"I only know Jihoon's name but I think he comes from China?" Seungkwan stopped tapping his fingers and stared at the two boys who were once again messing about while everyone else judged them. "Really? He should've stayed there then." Jeonghan stated, gaining a 'what the fuck, you're so horrible for saying that' look from Jisoo and Hansol.

But no one dared to speak up ─ all too afraid and clouded by Wonwoo's judgement that they let them say whatever they wanted to.

"I mean do we really have to hate on him? He hasn't done anything to us." Soonyoung spoke up while Chan nodded. "Who's side are you on?" Wonwoo stared at the pair in utter disbelief. How could his friends say that? "I'm on your side! I'll just shut up."

______________________

"Jihoonie, that Wonwoo guy keeps staring at us." Junhui whined, resting his head on his best friend's lap. "Just ignore him, Junnie. I'm sure he's just salty because you actually talked back to him unlike his 'friends' did over there." He combed his fingers through the latters hair, earning soft giggles that would make anyone's heart flutter.

"He thinks he's all high and mighty. At least I have you Jihoonie! I don't need anyone else." Jun took the younger's hands, lacing their fingers together. Jihoon grinned. He smiled the most whenever he was with Junhui and well, he was with him all the time; even though that time still didn't feel like enough.

No matter how many times the pair tried to ignore everyone else around them it felt like someone was burning holes into their souls every single minute. They looked up to see Wonwoo and his 'crew' staring at them with judgement plastered over their faces.

Instead of ignoring him, Jun got up and walked over to them, Jihoon running to catch up to him. "What are you doing?" Jihoon whispered as they made their way to the table. "You'll see." Junhui smiled happily, finally reaching them. Most of their mouths were open but one or two were smiling.

" _Wonwoo_ , is it? I know you're busy with your lunch and so are we. So kindly stop staring at us?" He put on a fake smile, linking arms with his best friend.

"You don't get to speak to him like that when you're so poor." Jeonghan laughed at him, only to _nearly_ get a hit from Jihoon. Junhui stopped him. "Oh yes I'm poor and I got in this school on a scholarship wow! That's the first time I've _ever_ heard that _."_ Soonyoung, Chan, Hansol and Jisoo laughed quietly, praising the blue-haired boy in silence.

"You obviously don't deserve that Scholarship when you weren't even in class earlier." Wonwoo snarled while Jihoon gritted his teeth. "I go to class, just not the ones that include you and your fellow Nazis. Maybe if you weren't such rude and nasty people who spend their time making people feel like shit, I'd go to class instead of picking up extra-work."

A few of them scoffed, including Wonwoo.

"How about you and your best friend go somewhere else yeah?" Wonwoo smirked, having the rest of his group back him up. "Or better yet, go back to China." Now _that_ hit a sensitive subject. There was no time to react when Jihoon smacked that stupid grin off of his face.

"You don't know him. You don't know his story, his life or anything about him. You don't even know his name and for you to say to him 'go back to China' When your _own_ friend is from China as well it's a low blow and I'm not talking about a blow job you dumb fuck." Jihoon hit the older again before running after his best friend.

"We'll get him back."

"It's whatever. I think we're going to have fun with this." Wonwoo replied, getting back to eating his lunch.

________________________

"Junnie, don't listen to them. You know they're just doing that to make you feel little." Just seeing his best friend upset was enough to break Jihoon. _Especially_ when he knew how positive the boy was. "Aren't you shorter than me though, Jihoonie?" A small laugh escaped his lips as he snuggled into the other males chest. "Whatever. Now, what are you gonna do? Are you going to sit here and mope or enjoy spending the rest of school with your best friend?"

"Spend the rest of school with my best friend." He mumbled, earning a sincere smile from the younger. "Good! Let's go have fun then."

________________________

"Are they seriously playing chasies with a ball outside?" Wonwoo asked, still looking out of the window. "You don't have to keep looking at them. Just let them have their fun." Soonyoung replied hesitantly, trying to ignore all the daggers that were being thrown at him. "Who gave you the right to comment?" Wonwoo barked back.

"Just saying, they would've been in this classroom and not out there if they actually liked us."

"Whatever."

_________________________

⏪Play Lost Boy by Ruth B⏩

"Jihoonie! Let's go home now." Wonwoo heard that familiar 'annoying' voice which kept making him react. He searched for the voice until he found it. "Okay but don't get lost again when we have to take different streets. You tend to do that when you're lost in your thoughts and I do not need to spend another four hours looking for you."

"That's because I'm a lost boy Jihoonie. I belong in Neverland." He giggled softly, making Wonwoo's heart do continuous flips. "Lost boy? Such a nerd." Wonwoo said quietly, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"But if you belong in Neverland where do I belong?" He heard Jihoon reply. "You belong right beside me, Jihoonie!"

"They're so sappy they should just get together." Minghao and Mingyu came up from behind him, surprising the older. "They obviously like each other. They don't talk to anyone else but each other."  
Minghao stated and without consent, grabbed the two boys and began following the two in front of them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wonwoo groaned but kept watching the two boys in front of him who were once again holding hands like it was normal. "Well, you hate the guy right? What better way to get back at him than to catch a picture of them all lovey? You could post it on your social media!" Minghao snickered, snapping a few pictures of the boys holding hands.

"Bye Jihoonie!" The blue haired male smiled, pecking the younger's cheek. "A picture's worth a thousand words right?" Mingyu cooed over the sight, Minghao looked like he was about to vomit but Wonwoo ─ he didn't know what to think. All he knew was that his heart sunk for no reason. "W-wait. I'll walk you to your house." Jihoon blushed then turned left, walking the other home.

"Well, now time to tweet this to everyone." Minghao clicked on twitter, typing out his tweet then sending it.

[  haoudoing: **look at the cute couple ppl gag worthy right??? The two outcasts its kinda funny really ||image attached|| ]**

"And now, we wait." They ended the short lived conversation then walked to their houses.

________________________

"Welcome home, dear." Wonwoo's mother greeted him, only to have a grumpy Wonwoo mumble before walking upstairs. Considering he had nothing to do; apart from actually interact with people, he decided to go on Twitter.

Minghao's original tweet already had five hundred likes and three hundred retweets. He scrolled down the comments, looking at what everyone was saying about the tweet.

justjihoon: @haoudoing **You all really just love the attention don't you? Your life is so empty you decide that tormenting others**

justjihoon: @haoudoing **is the only way you'll feel content with yourselves take the tweet down**

haoudoing: @justjihoon **awwww is little jihoon upset? you should tell your boyfriend about it**

justjihoon: @haoudoing **He's not my boyfriend he's my best friend. You'd know what that was if you weren't so set on hurting people**

Wonda-and-Coswoo: @justjihoon **How is it hurting him? It's just a picture???**

justjihoon: @Wonda-and-Coswoo **HOW IS IT NOT WONWOO? THE WHOLE SCHOOL ALREADY TALKS ABOUT HIM SAYING HE'S THIS AND THAT AND NOW YOU'VE JUST MADE IT WORSE**

justjihoon: @Wonda-and-Coswoo **You're all such horrible people and you don't deserve a person like him in your life he's an amazing, kind, caring, funny person and you**

justjihoon: @Wonda-and-Coswoo **Are all just basic fucking bitches who live off of people's misery**

2Soon: @justjihoon **ur being over dramatic abt this its just a photooo**

justjihoon: @2Soon **Over dramatic? How about you get to know my best friend and you tell me whether or not he deserves this shit?**

justjihoon: @2Soon **Newsflash** : **you're not going to get to know him because I'd let him nowhere near any of you**

Wonda-and-Coswoo: @justjihoon **Someone's possessive (:**

justjihoon: @Wonda-and-Coswoo **Whatever go back to watching fairly odd parents**

"At least he realises it's a great show." Wonwoo hummed, completely aware that this tweet would in fact hurt the blue haired boy and in all honesty, he felt _bad_.

_________________________

It was the next day and Junhui of course, was having a terrible one. Jihoon was going to come in late, leaving him alone with everyone staring at him, whispering every time he looked back.

Jihoon of course ran to Junhui's house as soon as he saw the tweet so _yes_ , he was expecting people to talk about him today but he still felt terrible. People talking about you every single day (and not in a good way either) just because you stand out, made him feel vulnerable, **weak**.

He just wanted to be himself yet everyone seemed to have a problem with that.

Knowing the people who sent the tweet and photo would be in his classes today, he decided instead of going outside like he usually did with Jihoon, he'd roam around the school. After everyone else was in class of course.

The bell rang right on time because if any of the continuous stares and whispers kept on going, he'd probably go insane.

_________________________

"Where's the blue-haired dude? He's not outside today." Wonwoo stared outside; lawngreen fields being the only thing in sight. "Dunno. Maybe he took what you said about going back to China to heart." Seokmin sighed, trying to understand what the teacher was writing. "Weird."

About twenty minutes into the lesson, the teacher called Wonwoo up to her desk. "Take this note around the school, skip the art room's though." He nodded, left the room, then started going around the school.

 _"I don't wanna cry._.." Wonwoo heard a gentle voice singing. " _Although there's tears in my eyes.._." The voice became softer, realer, almost heartbreaking as Wonwoo kept listening. " _No, I don't wanna cry.."_

"I _'m okay_ (I'm not okay)"

 _"I don't want to see you_ (I really want to see you)"

 _"I have to say, say these lies that don't even come from my heart."_ Wonwoo didn't understand why he had tears in his eyes but the voice was so beautiful and had so much sorrow that it was overwhelming.

" **You**?" Wonwoo looked around and saw the blue-haired boy was the one singing. "Um, _yes_?" He studied the boy's face ─ crystal clear tears about to fall from his eyelashes and puffy pink lips with bite marks over them. It was clear to Wonwoo that the song meant a lot to him.

"So, uh...Who were you singing about?" He awkwardly scratched his head, desperately hoping they'd lock eyes. "Jihoonie." He replied shyly. Wonwoo would've found it cute if he hadn't mention the name 'Jihoon.'

" _Really_? You can't stop talking about him for one minute, huh?" With that, the boy's eyes shot up to meet Wonwoo's, an irritated look plastered on his face. "Well he _is_ my best friend. Jihoonie told me about what you and Minghao did. And just to be clear; _crystal clear_ , I'm not with him. He's the only person I have so of course I'm going to hold him close to my heart." Jun's expression wasn't unreadable ─ the opposite in fact. There was only love in his eyes, but anger at the same time.

"You don't have to be so snappy. I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. You're not even in the same social class as me. You should feel grateful." Wonwoo smirked, feeling proud to have such a high 'position' in their society.

"Are you _serious_? I feel grateful that I'm still alive! You nearly bored me to death that I tuned you out after the words 'social class.'" He pushed passed the black haired male, only to be pushed up against the lockers by Wonwoo.

"What's so great about you then? If you think personality matters in this world, it doesn't." Wonwoo tightened his grip, yielding a yelp from the blue-haired male. "You're hurting me..." He whimpered. "Tell me what's so great about you and I'll let go. Sure you're cute, cuddly, have a beautiful voice, you're witty, for some weird reason you've been on mind constantly and you challenge me. Other than that, what's so great about you?" Wonwoo growled, only gaining a shocked expression on the other males face.

"Um...did you just compliment me?" He stared at the dumbfounded male until he realised what he said himself. "N-no! I think you're going insane. I just asked you what was so great about you, that's it!" Stuttering definitely didn't help him in this case.

"Get the fuck off of him." Wonwoo instantly let go of his wrists, turning around to see no other than Jihoon. "Jihoonie! I missed you." The older, well Wonwoo thought he was older even though he didn't act like it, tackled the short boy to the floor, enjoying being engulfed in a warm hug by the younger.

_Okay Wonwoo. You're going insane. Jihoon just initiated the hug. This is just a dream._

"It's only been a few hours though." Jihoon laughed before sending a cold glare to Wonwoo. "Well, I'll just be going then." Wonwoo whistled, walking past the pair who now started a tickle fight. "By the way, Wonwoo?" Jihoon looked in his direction, waiting for a response. "Yeah?" he replied. "Don't ever touch him again. If you do, I'll make sure you regret it, yeah?"

"Got it." Instead of finishing going around the school, Wonwoo thought 'fuck it' and gave up, going back to his class.

"You took longer than expected." Seokmin commented, allowing Wonwoo to get back to his seat. "Teachers like to talk a lot." He shrugged, mind wandering back to the blue-haired male whose name he wanted to know.

________________________

"Jun." The two boys were now inside the old music room. Junhui was playing the piano whilst Jihoon was strumming his fingers along the out of tune guitar. "...Did I do something wrong? You always call me Junnie." Running over to the younger he dropped to his knees, worry clearly evident.

"No! Sorry, Junnie. I just wanted to be serious for a moment." The younger sighed, placed his guitar down, and sat beside the older. "Earlier Wonwoo hurt you right?" Junhui nodded profusely, unwilling to take his gaze off of Jihoon. "Well, in that position...it looked like something else as in he looked like he was about to kiss you." Jihoon whispered the last part, trying not to act jealous.

"No, no, no, Jihoonie! Nothing like that happened at all. He was like, 'what's so great about you, huh?'" Jihoon laughed as the latter impersonated Wonwoo. "And I was going to say, 'everything' but then he started naming things that were great about me which was really weird but then! Here's the best bit, my knight in shining armour came to rescue me." Jun giggled, clapping his hands happily while Jihoon was 'slightly' blushing.

"I'm not a knight in Shining armour."

"Yeah...not all knights are this short." Climbing on top of him, he began blowing raspberries on the latter's stomach. "S-stop Jihoonie! It tickles." The younger smirked, still not getting off of him. "Say you're sorry then." Junhui groaned. "I'm sorry." He whined, squirming around. "You're forgiven." With no further comment he got off of the latter.

"I'm glad I met you Jihoon. I really am." The older smiled, resting his forehead against Jihoon's. "I'm glad I met you too, Jun. But I'm not that great."

"Nah, I think you are. Everybody left me but when you found me alone, in that ditch, I swore I met an angel that day." Jun grinned, looking at Jihoon's face before continuing. "And instead of just ditching me...literally because I was in a ditch. You've stayed with me ever since then and you've made me feel like someone actually cares about me."

"You're so cheesy."

"Cheesier than cheese dip?"

"Definitely." Junhui cuddled into his blazer before a pair of arms wrapped around him. "Don't do that, idiot. Who the hell cuddles themselves when they have another person right here?"

"Why do you get to be the big spoon!? This is blasphemy!"

"Junnie, learn what blasphemy means first before you use it."

"Stop being mean just because someone didn't get enough calcium when they were younger so now they're short."

"Do you want me to hit you with this guitar?"

"Nope! I'm good. Calcium? What calcium?"

"Nice save."

_______________________

"Jihoonie, do you want to go to the arcade after school?" As usual, the pair were inseparable. People tried to talk to Jihoon just a few minutes ago but he pushed them away, only wanting to talk to Jun. "Sure. You have the win us shit though I'm not spending money so that we go home empty handed." Junhui nodded, promising he'd win the younger a bunch of prizes whilst he was making a flower chain.

"I have a question." After finishing his flower chain of daisies he gave it to Jihoon who looked more than intrigued by the sudden sentence. "Shoot."

"I don't have a gun though?" Jun laughed, earning playful punches from Jihoon while the other table that consisted of Wonwoo and his 'clique' shot them dirty looks although Wonwoo had a slight smile on his face, maybe it was because of the bad joke or maybe he finally decided being emo wasn't a cool phase anymore. Probably the first option though.

"Anyway, why do you never make more friends? Plenty of people want to talk to you!" Jun was genuinely worried; as much as he loved the younger telling him all of his secrets and being the closest to him, he was scared the younger was getting lonely or he would get **bored** of him soon. "I don't like anyone else, I like you. Why don't you try making friends?" Jihoon grumbled, feeling a little bit jealous at the thought.

"I mean I know you aren't the _best_ listener Jihoonie but you realise everyone hates my guts, right? They don't want to talk to me. They want to talk to you. Plus, they're all boring. At least compared to you they are." Junhui giggled, resting his head in the crook of Jihoon's neck. "Exactly, they're _boring_. Why would I talk to someone who's boring?"

"For the hell of it?" He grinned, closing his eyes to feel content.

"Not even Satan would want me to go through that much pain." Jihoon whined before he heard Junhui snort, not his best look; but still incredibly adorable to him. "You're right, Satan wouldn't be that cruel. He used to be an angel after all."

Meanwhile Wonwoo was staring at Junhui once more or the 'blue-haired boy' considering Wonwoo still didn't ask for his name. "Since you keep staring at him how about we follow them to the arcade?" Minghao suggested. "They're just really loud. And wouldn't that be the second time we followed them?" Wonwoo sighed then returned his attention to his group.

"So? It'll only be the first time for Seokmin and Hansol! Don't you want to have fun at the arcade?" Minghao teased. Manipulation was something he was good at ─ no, _excelled_ at. "Wait, why are _we_ going?" Hansol left his bubble of thoughts, focusing back on reality. "Because I don't want Mingyu to come." He remarked. "Whatever."

Wonwoo's gaze fell back to Jihoon and the blue-haired boy who had now fallen asleep against the latter's shoulder. And of course Wonwoo would never admit this, but seeing them like that together was beginning to irritate him.

___________________________

After school they did indeed go to the arcade, not really sure why they were there. Minghao probably wanted to get back at Jihoon because of the whole tweet fiasco. Hansol went because let's face it; he was zoned out half of the time and just agreed. Seokmin tagged along since he's loyal and Wonwoo ─ he couldn't be seen chickening out.

The arcade was quite plain really, dark blue walls with shiny wooden floors, lights hanging down from the pale ceiling, many stalls that held prizes you could obtain with tickets. Like I said, it was plain. But it was magical. The happiness it brought to people was so overwhelming but fulfilling at the same time.

Seokmin and Hansol went off to play an old Donkey Kong game whereas Wonwoo and Minghao decided to stalk the pair that were playing skee ball. "Jihoonie! Stop throwing into the 50 hole and go for the 100!" The duo watched as the overly excited blue-haired male started stomping his feet. 

"He really is just a big kid isn't he?" Wonwoo mumbled to Minghao, gaining a nod in response. Surprisingly, after the giant child's 'You have to aim higher, Jihoonie!' speech, Jihoon ended up shooting all of the skee balls into the 100 point hole.

Arcade tickets came flowing out of the machine, the two boys parading around eachother. "Dorks." Minghao stated, dragging Wonwoo behind a claw machine when he saw the two boys picking up their tickets and making their way to the prize stall.

__________________________

"Jihoonie, what prize do you want?" Jihoon gazed up at the prizes, one in particular catching his eye. "The big cat plushie." He pointed his finger at the black and white cat, or in Jihoon's words 'The Junhui Look-a-like.' "Here you go." The man who was at least in his mid-thirties took their tickets in exchange for the cat. With the left over tickets they also got matching necklaces.

"Why'd you want the cat, Jihoonie?" The pair walked over to the claw machines, too oblivious to see Wonwoo and Minghao. "It reminded me of you, I guess." Jihoon cuddled the plushie, earning a sincere laugh from the older. He's going to miss his laughs the most. "Aw, you're so romantic! I never knew you could be so bold, Lee Jihoon." Junhui snorted again, unable to contain a serious face.

"Hey! Listen to me. You know you're the most important person to me, right?" This was it. Jihoon was going to tell him. He couldn't hide it any longer. "Yup and you're the most important person to me too." Jun smiled happily, completely oblivious to the fact that Jihoon was trying to be serious. "Well...Today I was late to school because I'm leaving." Wonwoo had to hold his breath otherwise he would've gasped just like Junhui did.

"You're leaving?" Tears were now starting to surface in Junhui's eyes ─ some even threatening to spill. "Not forever! Just for two months. My parent's are going on a business trip and they don't trust me on my own. Something about me hitting everything with a guitar unsettles them." Jihoon laughed, and Junhui wanted to laugh too. But he couldn't.

"Can you not stay with me? I know my house is nothing compared to yours but it'll be fun!" Junhui clinged to the younger, refusing to pull away. "I'm really sorry to leave you alone but I have to...Trust me, I'd rather be here with you but they won't allow me." Jihoon sighed heavily.

After five minutes of complete silence, Junhui spoke up. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow." He replied coldly, afraid that if he let his guard down, he'd be a crying mess. "That's too soon!" Junhui began walking to the exit only to be stopped by Jihoon. "Where are you going?"

"To my home." Junhui sniffled, rubbing his eyes aggressively. "Nope. You're coming to my house. I need you to help me pack, too." Jihoon tried lightening the mood which didn't work considering Junhui's smile was brighter than the sun and now; it felt like clouds were blocking the sun, making it unable for the star to shine. "Jihoon-ah..."

"Please, it's going to be our last night together and I have something to give you." Jihoon begged, only getting more excuses from the latter. "Your parents don't like me."

"That's not true! My parent's love you. You _are_ my best friend, remember? They even invited you over to dinner one time but you turned it down because you didn't like 'hand-outs.'" The younger smiled sincerely, hoping the other would believe him. "Fine.." He whispered, granting the younger's wish. "Good! Now let's go." Grasping the taller's hand they walked out of the arcade, leaving Wonwoo and Minghao to discuss what they just heard.

"Well, that was intense." Wonwoo commented as he was trying to ignore the pang of pain in his heart when he saw the blue-haired male cry. "Yeah...but since he'll be out of town I think that means we should make a bet, _don't you agree?"_ A sly smirk made its way onto Minghao's lips.

"What kind of bet?" Wonwoo raised his brow. "Well, he's going to be away for two months, leaving that blue-haired guy all alone. Jihoon's his only friend right? How about I give you two months to make him fall in love with you?"

"Why would I do that though?"

"It acts as payback. Jihoon and him were the only people to go against you so why not take the one person Jihoon loves the most and make him fall in love with you? If you succeed I'll get you that book you really wanted but couldn't get because it sold out." Now Wonwoo's intrigued. "And if I fail?"

Hansol and Seokmin came back to the pair, listening to the conversation that didn't make sense to them. "If you fail then I want you to hand over your position as the most popular boy in the school and let me take over it." Minghao grinned while Wonwoo stared. "How am I supposed to hand over that position? No, literally, how?" He queried. "Easy! Just don't talk to anyone. Plus you'll probably win anyway so don't worry about it too much. What do you say?"

It took a few minutes to come up with an answer but one word was going to change everything.

"Sure."

________________________

"Welcome, Junhui. My, you've gotten skinnier!" Jihoon's mother ran over to the boy, embracing him with a warm hug. "Ah, don't worry about it! I'm fine, really." Junhui gave a small smile, unwilling to tell her the reason why he was becoming so skinny; even unwilling to tell Jihoon. He didn't need charity.

"Nonsense! Eat with us, I insist." She pushed the boy down onto a chair beside Jihoon. "So...are you excited about the business trip?" He asked in order to move the conversation along whilst everyone was staring at him for not eating his bibimbap. "I mean it'll be interesting, that's for sure. New york seems very intense." Jihoon's father replied, pondering on what it would be like in New York.

"I'm not very excited." Jihoon groaned, his expression a mixture between bored and annoyed. "It'll be fun, Jihoonie! You'll get to try corndogs and visit central park!" Of course Jun was upset about his best friend leaving but he couldn't dampen his mood. He wanted the younger to have fun. He really did.

"Exactly, Jihoon! Junhui is 100% right." She praised the tall cat-like male.

"No I'm not, I'm half left." Junhui smiled, pointing his finger and thumb out. The table burst into a fit of laughter. "I can see why he's your best friend, Jihoon." His father chuckled then turned his direction towards Junhui. "Are you sure you won't be lonely, Junhui?"

To the Lee's, Junhui was an outgoing, charismatic, witty boy who was so endearing. No one told them that Junhui only had Jihoon, of course they wouldn't. Even if they were told that they wouldn't believe it. Junhui was seen as 'the kind popular boy' to them. Well it wasn't a lie, he was popular at school ─ for all the wrong reasons.

"I won't be lonely! I'll be okay, right Jihoonie?" He nudged the boy in the ribs, forcing him to go along with it. "Yeah. Junnie's really popular." Again, not a lie. "That's splendid. He'll be back to annoy you before you know it, Junhui!" Jihoon's father laughed again, his wife joining in. "Very funny. I'm going to show him something upstairs." Jihoon dragged the taller upstairs, leaving his parents to wonder something.

"Why didn't Junhui eat his food?" She asked her husband, finger on her chin. "Maybe he already ate."

"What did you wanna show me?" It wasn't the first time Junhui's been in the younger's room. In fact he spent too much time there.

Junhui is petrified of thunder and lightning, although it looks pretty, the loud, ear-bursting noises made him jump out of his skin. Considering he lived by himself, he had no one to turn to for comfort. So he'd run to the younger's house, (it wouldn't matter if it was raining heavily) climb in the window that he always left open in case one of those all too frequent thunder storms occured and Junhui needed a cuddle buddy, then he'd slip under the covers; finding warmth beneath the sheets and Jihoon's warm embrace.

It was strange how Jihoon felt like home to Junhui, mostly because he didn't come from China. But he loved it all the more. Sure, Jihoon had his on and off days ─ more off than on but with a few bad jokes and warm smiles, Jihoon would come around; spending his day laughing and smiling with the latter.

The walls were a plain white colour except for one which was painted purple when Jun said it was his favourite colour. Everything was quite spacious, dark oak wardrobes and drawers located near the door of his bedroom, numerous plushies (most, if not all that Junhui had won him) aligned in rows. Beside the plushies were his guitars, one that was maroon and just a classic in general. His bed was at the top of the room, king sized and had black covers on top of it. Five or six black with golden lining pillows placed perfectly on top of the sheets and a t.v that was about 28 inches. It looked nice of course; but it only felt complete once Junhui was there with him.

"Here." Jihoon handed him a seven inch tablet, it wasn't anything fancy but to Junhui ─ it was as priceless as Jihoon's life. "It looks cool. Here, have it back." He placed back in the younger's palms only to be rejected. "You're keeping it, Junnie. Since I won't be here I'm going to skype you all the time, which means you need to keep it." Jihoon grinned. "Skype? What's that?" Junhui asked.

"You've a lot to learn, Junnie. Skype is a video chat kind of app so we'll be able to see each other even when we're far apart." He laughed quietly, pulling the latter onto his bed. "Do you want to see something funny?" Junhui nodded furiously. "Welcome to the **dark side.** " Jihoon snickered, wrapping his arm around the latter then pressing play on JREKML's new video.

__________________________

⏪Play Heavy by Linkin Park⏩

"He was so funny, Jihoonie!" They binge watched numerous of NigaHiga's videos, bursting into laughter every time they heard him make a pun. Time seemed to go by fast since it was now eleven o'clock in the evening and Junhui was starting to get sleepy. "Jihoonie I'm tired. I should head home." The older yawned, hair messy from rolling into a blanket to become a burrito. "Junnie, it's pitch black outside. Stay here tonight, I'll go get you some of dad's pyjamas." Without another word he went out of the room, leaving Junhui alone.

"Catch." Jihoon came back with a set of silky golden long sleeved pyjamas, throwing them into Junhui's arms. Instead of fighting against the younger, he was far too tired to even shake his head. He took the clothes, went to the bathroom and changed.

He hated looking at his skin, especially his arms so he hastily put the pyjamas on, running to Jihoon's room straight after. Jihoon was now wearing a band t-shirt with some black pyjama bottoms.

Jumping on the bed they got under the covers, snuggling into the warm blankets. "I'm going to miss you..." Junhui said sleepily, giggling once he caught Jihoon's hand trying to hold his. "Trust me, I'm going to miss you way more." By accident Jihoon's hand fell through Junhui's sleeve, allowing him to feel what seemed like a bunch of scratches and scars on the latter's skin. "Junnie...what happened to your arm?" Junhui was beyond alarmed now. The saying, 'fake it 'til you make it' was the only thing he could do at this point. "Nothing Jihoonie. I tried petting this cat and she scratched me."

To Jihoon; Junhui was always a positive and happy boy so he believed the older fully. Junhui always liked to pet animals since he was an animal lover, so he had no reason to think it could've been something else. But at the same time he did. Though, he didn't want to admit it. "Night, Jihoonie." The older hid his head in the covers, trying to force himself to sleep. "Sweet dreams, Junnie."

__________________________

⏪Play One Day by Beast⏩

"Hey, sleepy heads! Wake up." The two boys woke up to the sound of Jihoon's mother's voice. It was a friday. "Five more minutes." Junhui sleepily buried his face in Jihoon's chest, the strands of his hair tickling the younger's nose. "Junnie, wake up." Sluggishly the older got up, looking at the clock on the desk that read '10:34 a.m' Which of course means, he's late to school.

"Oh my God, Jihoonie! We didn't finish packing your stuff. Forget changing clothes you need to pack the rest of this!" And so it began, fourty-five minutes of two boys running around, rushing to get everything packed oh! And don't forget trying not to kill each other in the process.

"Guess what?" Jihoon smirked devilishly, much to Junhui's dismay. "What?" Junhui sat on the suitcase, trying to zip it up. "You're late to school." Junhui groaned, "I know. But I'm going with you to the airport! I want to say a proper goodbye." He pouted then jumped up and down in happiness once he managed to zip up the suitcase. "With the power of positivity, anything is possible!" He fist bumped the air. "Calm down, guru." He shrugged, taking his school uniform.

"Jihoon! Hurry up or we're going to be late." His father called out, allowing the two boys to take the suitcase downstairs and put it in the car. "New York seems so fun." It wasn't weird that Junhui was the most excited out of the four of them actually ─ it was really weird. But maybe they just didn't know what to expect. Jun left China and came to Korea so adapting to new places wasn't a struggle for him. In fact ─ it was one of his strong points.

The Lee's laughed whilst Jun continued talking about the great things in New York. Anything from the statue of liberty to Broadway shows, even talking about movies set there such as Annie. It was a good thing though, they never liked silence and Junhui was far from that.

The airport wasn't that far, probably a thirty minute drive at the least so they got there pretty quickly. Their flight left at 12:45 p.m and right now it was 12:06 p.m. Their suitcases went through the metal detector, Jihoon's and his father's going off because of their tablets but other than that they were fine. After that they got checked which came out negative and soon enough they were told they could board the plane.

"You have to get a picture of the Statue of Liberty, Jihoonie! Make sure you eat corndogs!" Junhui giggles, pulling the younger into a hug which doesn't last long because Jihoon seems to have no chill around Junhui so he's got snot on Junhuis pyjamas and wet tear stains can be seen on his shirt. "Don't be sad, Jihoonieeee~ You'll be back soon." Jihoon nods. "Son, we're boarding." They wave eachother goodbye and his parents pull Junhui into a hug before they walk off. "Have fun!!" 

"So, I think it's obvious you love him, right honey?" Jihoon's mother smirked, nudging her Husband's ribs. "Oh well. I'd rather him be in love with Junhui than be in love with some snobby rich girl." He commented, a blush playing on Jihoon's face. His parents were two words: _too chill._ "I'm not in love with him!"

"Lee Jihoon. I gave _birth_ to you and you think I don't know my own son? I am offended." She dramatically gasped. "Son, you didn't even cry when you broke your arm and now you're in tears because of how much you'll miss him. If that's not love then I don't know what is." Mr.Lee noted, observing his son dab his tears with a handkerchief. "That's because Junh─" "Junhui's special? We know that. That's why you can't let him go!" His mother interrupted him, knowing exactly what he'd say. So instead he stayed quiet, boarding the plane with only one person on his mind: Junhui.

_________________________

⏪Play Even If by MercyMe⏩

"Who knew I'd be walking to school with pyjamas on?" There was the 'walk of shame' and then there was the ' **Junhui**.' Junhui had no shame of course; but that doesn't mean he wasn't aware of how he looked. Luckily, everyone was in school so no one would see him and at least his school clothes were in his school bag meaning he could just change in the bathroom.

As he walks alone on the cracked path, he thinks about what he'll do without Jihoon. Jihoon was his safety net, the one who always stood up for him. But now that he was gone, the bullying was going to get worse and most likely; the self harm too.

'Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.' But what if they didn't throw sticks and stones but instead threw punches and kicks along with hateful words? At school it was mostly verbal, Junhui was strong enough to endure that at first. But then Jihoon had to stay behind often, telling Junhui to go on and of course he did. But that's when they would strike. Different groups of people would follow him, say the usual 'Let's be friends! We can go somewhere to chat.' And every single time Junhui fell for it. Not because he wanted to be friends with them, but because they put on such a good act. They'd take him somewhere sketchy then start beating him up. If they were feeling even more wicked they'd bring bats, hitting him every chance they'd get.

He wasn't lonely, nor depressed. He just felt sore, tired. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare but unfortunately it was reality. And reality wasn't all that pretty. Those thoughts were at the back of his mind. 'I _don't deserve this.' 'I'm a good person so why must you hurt me?'_ Positivity was a blessing and a curse; you can be truly positive but still feel like you're crumbling on the inside.

It started off as a thing to 'end the pain.' When he first took the blade and glided it along his skin, although it was just as painful. But slowly, it became an addiction. It was like he was painting his feelings onto an already messy canvas, creating a beautiful but all the more tragic masterpiece.

These memories and thoughts go over Junhui's head as he nears the school. Instead of going in the office he sneaks in, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of the staff. It was now 1:27 p.m. Lunch ended at 2:00 p.m so everyone was outside. Quickly, he ran to the bathroom to get changed.

______________________

"Wonwoo if you need to piss just go the bathroom good God. Stop complaining." Minghao grunted, two girls currently on his arm. "Shut up. Jeonghan, make sure no freaks come over here while I'm gone." Wonwoo got off of his seat followed by a nod from Jeonghan, "The only freak isn't even here today so I don't think that will be hard."

Wonwoo casually walked into the school, making his way into the bathroom until he saw someone shirtless. He stayed quiet, hiding behind the wall but glancing over to the male every few seconds. The male was only slightly taller than he was with blue hair, purpley yellow bruises covered all over his tanned back and abdomen and fresh cuts all over his arms along with old scars. And then it hit him. _He_ was the boy who was constantly on Wonwoo's mind lately. The ever so 'annoyingly' positive boy that looked like he was far from positive.

The boy had now finished changing then got rid of the frown, changing it into a smile. Wonwoo sure as hell wasn't as positive as the blue-haired male was but he didn't self harm. He was happy with his life. How could someone look so happy but feel so sad that they could do that? It certainly wasn't for attention considering the only person he hanged out with was Jihoon.

He heard the boy shuffling around so he made a run for it, totally forgetting the reason why he went there in the first place. That being said, Wonwoo _did_ have a bet with Minghao. He knew the blue-haired male liked plushies, that much was obvious. So bribing the school guard to let him leave the school was easy when Wonwoo was desperate.

⏪Play Smile Flower by Seventeen⏩

He went to the nearest store and got the biggest teddy bears he could find. Different colours such as bright blue and yellow caught his eye. He thought since the latter seemed like a really bubbly person he'd enjoy the bright colours. He ended up buying four plushies, a purple cat, blue and yellow bears and a tiger.

Wonwoo could tell you he's doing all of this for a bet but in reality, he just wants to see the boy shine a real smile. If his small smiles were almost blinding, imagine what a real one would look like.

Wonwoo made his way back to the school, it was now 2:07 p.m. A few minutes late won't do harm though. He had art class now. Art wasn't his strong point but writing was. He entered the classroom and to his surprise, the blue haired boy was there, painting away on his canvas. There was an empty seat beside him so he sat there.

He looked at the painting, it was a picture of the boy himself, the face painted in bright yellows, pinks and blues whilst the backround was starting to become a galaxy almost. "That's beautiful." Wonwoo grinned, shaking the boy out of his thoughts. "...Thank you?" Wonwoo's smile widened once he saw the prominent blush on the older's cheeks. "You're welcome."

"Why are you sitting beside me? Just the other day you made fun of me for not being wealthy." Junhui sighed, deciding his painting was finished so he started another one, drawing out features that looked like Jihoon. "That doesn't matter anymore. Are you drawing Jihoon? Don't draw him, draw me. Please?" Wonwoo pleaded. "But I want to draw Jihoonie..."

"Please. You might not come to this class again and you can draw him some other time. Please?" He carried on the E then watched the older rub away the pencil.

"Um...can you smile for me?" He asked quietly, quickly sketching out his features. "Smile?" Wonwoo stared at the male in confusion. "You look better when you smile. You know, the thing you were just doing a few minutes ago." The latter rolled his eyes, laughing a little when Wonwoo blushed. "I don't smile. Like ever." He avoided the older's gaze. "Wow, I feel _so_ special." Wonwoo looked up to see his hand on his heart, expression over-exaggerated which caused him to smile even more. "Finally! Thank you." He let out a dramatic sigh, causing Wonwoo to burst into laughter.

Junhui was special to a few people, obviously to those who got to know him. If more people took the time to know him, he'd be special to even more people and Wonwoo was starting to see why the blue-haired male was special too.

"What way do you want me to paint it?" Junhui stared at the palette full of colours, an idea on how to paint the younger but unsure of what he would think. "However you want to paint me? I don't mind. It would be cool to see your perspective."

"That's a big word, Jeon Wonwoo." He wiggled his eyebrows, earning a scoff from the latter. "Well I have a pretty big vocabulary box...What's your name?" Junhui smirked, continuing to paint the younger. "It's a secret."

"Fine then. I guess I'll find out on my own." Wonwoo sulked, peeking over the latter's shoulder to see that he was painted mostly in dull colours but tints of pink, red and yellows were around his eyes and lips.

"Am I that boring?" He grasped onto the olders arm, startling him. "Like most people, you normally see all of their emotions because they express things with all of their face. With you, the only emotion you give away is in your smile. The rest of your face gives off a 'cold' vibe." Junhui casually removed the other's hand off of him.

"Wow, so observant." Wonwoo scoffed once more, the stinging pain of the blue-haired boy rejecting him still there but the thought that he was 'interesting' to the boy made him feel special. "Not really. Anyone could tell you that." _And now it's gone to shit._

The bell rang before anything further could be said and Wonwoo's final class turned out to be boring as usual. "Are you walking home with us? Also, what's up with the plushies?" Soonyoung and Jeonghan asked, pointing at the bag of plushies. "Yeah I'll walk home with you and..." he paused for a minute. "You know how my mom is, she loves all that cuddly shit."

"True, so does mine. Just the other day she made me buy a giant stuffed duck. Yes, a duck." Soonyoung whined, remembering how embarrassing it is to buy a stuffed toy when you're 16. At least Wonwoo was in the clear.

Once the bell rang, the three boys started walking home. Nobody came the way they went, mostly because they all lived in a massive house and only a few people were as wealthy as them. They tended to take shortcuts, considering their houses were pretty far from the school.

⏪Play Inner Demons by Julia Brennan⏩

As they walk down the creepy alleyway, muffled weeps and cries can be heard. It's only when the trio look up that they see a group of people standing around someone, screaming words of hatred at the person who's lying on the cold floor. "Let's just go the other way." Jeonghan persuaded them to go down a different route.

"Who do you think they were beating up? They were wearing our uniform." Soonyoung wondered. "Probably some kid who's poor. Nobody ever beats up someone from our school when they're all pretty wealthy. Allows them a chance to make business plans together, I guess." Jeonghan replied back calmly. "Then it has to be that blue-haired guy, right? He's the only one who got in the school because of a scholarship."

Soonyoung liked Junhui, no doubt about it. He loved how he could throw back everyone's wealth, making it seem like money meant nothing but he couldn't voice that. He couldn't say, 'I think we should give him a chance.' Or, 'I want to be friends with him.' But realisation clicked in Wonwoo's mind. "Guys I need to go. I've got...errands." Wonwoo blurted out his words. "Errands? No you don't. You always told me your mother does the errands." Jeonghan eyed the younger. "Did I say errands? I meant Erin's. Yeah! I'm meeting the two Erin twins today at a coffee shop so bye!"

"Um, okay..."

Wonwoo quickly ran back to where the blue-haired male was. The group of people had now vanished and there he sat, eyes closed, head forward and shoulders hunched. "Fancy meeting you here." Wonwoo sat beside the blue-haired boy, taking in that he was given a black eye and a bloody lip, shirt also stained with blood. "Look, Wonwoo. Just tell your friends Seungcheol and Mingyu to maybe _not_ attack me next time, okay?" He smiled bitterly, biting his already bleeding lip once he tried to move.

Wonwoo was beyond aghast. Seungcheol and Mingyu? Who is he supposed to believe? The two guys who didn't walk home with him or the boy who's got blood all over him? "I'm sorry." Wonwoo replied hastily. "I don't see why you should be. It wasn't you who did it." After a few minutes of silence, Junhui was finally able to get up, limping, but at least nothing was broken.

"Take this." Wonwoo pushed the plushies into the latter's hands. "No, thank you." It wasn't illogical of Junhui to reject the plushies. For one, why would he accept something from someone who was friends with the people who _just_ beat him up? "Please, I insist. Nobody else will take them and you like plushies, don't you?" Wonwoo whined, pushing the plushies back into his hands, almost causing the latter to fall. "Wonwoo I need to walk home now, just keep the plushies." Junhui walked past the younger, hobbling. "I can walk you home─" "I'm good. I'm limping, not dying." He laughed weakly, gaining a small smile from Wonwoo.

Wonwoo could've ran after him, but he didn't. He didn't have the right to. Wonwoo didn't help him when he was getting beat up, he left him there. And he only came back when he found out it was him. So if it wasn't him, another person would've been in his position instead and Wonwoo wouldn't care.

_______________________

⏪Play Coupons by Witt Lowry⏩

Junhui had now reached his house, his knees about to give in. I guess to understand how bad Junhui had it I have to explain how he ended up here in the first place, right? Well as you know, Junhui comes from China.

His parents worked in finance but their company went bankrupt. Just because they worked in finance, doesn't mean they were good at funding in things that would actually make a great idea. Junhui's parents never really took on ideas that were good for their business, rather, they funded the people who had the most heart. The people who _wanted_ their dreams to come true even when everyone else stopped believing in them.

Unfortunately, having that mindset wasn't a good thing to have in the financial department. They were still recovering from debt when someone came to them with an idea.

They wanted to make an idol group, one that would be so world-wide and loved by everyone. Mrs. Wen loved the idea so she funded in it, _massively_. She believed in the project so much but in the end, it failed miserably. All of the members either left or got into scandals whilst trying to promote their group meaning the Wen's had to pay even _more_ money just to have the scandals blown over. All in all they ended up in so much debt that whenever Junhui entered to go to the school in Korea, they had to make sure he got all A's just to get a scholarship.

They were able to get him a very, very small bungalow, all worn down with only a small kitchen, a bedroom with a thin blanket, a toilet and shower, no heating and lately; no food because things were getting even worse in China. But Junhui hated hand-outs. He was going to become successful with his art and help his family.

As soon as he got inside, he crashed down on his bed, the uncomfortable mattress didn't bother him anymore. He took out the tablet Jihoon had gave him, clicked on skype and saw that Jihoon was online. Jihoon had the premium package on his wifi and since his house wasn't far from Junhui's, he connected the device to his wifi, even though Junhui didn't know what the four lines were. He just assumed it was a pretty decoration.

"Jihoonie! I can see your face!" Junhui stared at the screen with his mouth wide open. "Junhui, what happened to you? Why do you have a black eye and why is your lip like that? Did someone hurt you?" Jihoon looked closely at the older, a mixture of anger and sadness overwhelming him. "No, Jihoonie! I just fell today in school. It's not that sore. Anyway! How's New York?" He didn't want to worry the younger, despite how much pain he was in. "We're still on the plane." He quickly replied, showing the latter the window.

"It looks so cool! Imagine if you were sat on the wing and just felt the clouds." Junhui giggled quietly, letting out a small yelp after as laughing was beginning to hurt his bruised stomach. "Are you sure you're okay? And that wouldn't happen Junnie." Jihoon rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. It _would_ be nice to feel the clouds after all.

"Junhui!" Junhui was lost in his thoughts as usual until Mrs. Lee brought him out of his thoughts. "Hi! How does it feel to be flying?" Junhui responded, a giddy expression on his face. "The cute flight attendant keeps checking me out! Jihoon's dad is totally jealous." She tilted the camera to Jihoon's father, a sulk evident. "You're so scandalous. You know what they say Mr. Lee, those who offer food know the way to a woman's heart." Junhui smirked, causing the whole family to laugh loudly, the flight attendant rushing to their aid.

"Is there something wrong miss?" Definitely a stupid question to ask when they were laughing. "No, no! We're just talking my son's fiance." He peered at the screen, looking at the battered Junhui. "So you're the one who keeps checking out my mother-in-law?" Junhui gasped, playing along. "She is a married man sir!" Junhui could've sworn he heard Jihoon choke on his drink. "I'm sorry sir, I'll leave you to it." The man scurried away, forgetting to mention they should turn the tablet off.

⏪Play Oh My Soul by Casting Crowns⏩

"You're welcome, Mr. Lee." He clicked his tongue, pointing his fingers in a gun sort of action. "We gotta go. Bye, Junnie." Jihoon quickly ended the video chat, leaving Junhui alone with his thoughts, a bad thing when he wasn't in a good mindset.

Before he knows it, he's taking out the dirty blade, staring at it with confusion. Should he do it? He doesn't want to hurt Jihoon but whose to say he was going to find out? Nobody knew, at least that's what he wanted to believe. Jihoon distracted him, pulled him into an entirely different world when he was with him. But now he's out of that world and into a world where everyone doesn't accept him.

A world that doesn't want him in it.

So he does it. He grabs his blade covered in dried blood and takes it to his wrist. The sensation stings at first but he ignores it as soon as he sees the ruby red liquid pop up in dots, cutting the same wound deeper, wanting the dots to disappear into a thick line. He repeats the process by creating new lines. Each time, he'd cut deeper.

Was Junhui selfish for hurting himself? Far from it, actually. Maybe no one can understand why such a happy boy would do that to himself. He was like a machine that had operating buttons, but would malfunction and press the self destruct button instead. Jihoon would be there to fix the machine, but it always fell apart when he wasn't there. Jihoon was truly Junhui's lifeline, and Junhui was his.

Junhui was becoming tired. He quickly washed the cuts, got into bed and tried to fall asleep. "Think about happy things Junhui. Nothing can hurt you then." He chanted the same phrase over and over, thinking about Jihoon, jelly snacks and art then slowly drifted off to sleep.

__________________________

"Did you really have to say he was my fiance?" Jihoon groaned, getting off of the plane. "It was just a joke, Jihoon-ah. Come on, let mommy see that smile." She pinched her son's cheeks. "Please stop. I'm sixteen, not six."

"Junhui would let me pinch his cheeks! Why can't you just show your poor, wonderful mother who spent nine months with you inside her womb some love?" Pinching his cheeks once more, he pulled away from her, hiding behind his dad. "Jun would never let you pinch his cheeks."

"Lee Jihoon! Are you telling me my _own_ son-in-law wouldn't let me pinch his cheeks? This is a monstrosity." She weeped, trudging on out of the airport. "He's not your son-in-law!"

"Not yet." Jihoon's father snickered, hiding his laugh by pulling his hand up to his face. "I thought you'd be on my side..."

Finally they made it outside, calling a cab to take them to the house they'd be staying in. "We're just warning you, honey. If you don't confess soon then it might be too late and you'll spend your life as a lonely, miserable hermit crab and _that my son_ , is not attractive to people." They got into the cab a few minutes later, telling him the details before Jihoon spoke up again, "Thanks mom. That was a real confidence booster."

"Do you need a booster seat? Considering you're so tiny..."

"And who did I get that from? It's not my fault you gave me short genes!"

"I also gave you the cute genes."

"That's not a thing."

"Well now it is." Meanwhile Mr.Lee is currently ignoring his wife and son, hoping the bickering would stop soon since they were getting weird looks from the taxi driver.

_________________________

Wonwoo is just doing a typical Wonwoo thing, reading. It's 7:30 p.m, his parents are home but he's not paying attention. A quote has caught his attention. 'Sometimes people are **beautiful** , not in looks, not in what they say, just in what they **are**.' This makes him think, long and hard. Wonwoo wasn't the best looking but he wasn't unattractive, that's why he'd always receive love letters. His words were cold but when he was writing, it was like he was creating a bestseller. What Wonwoo didn't have though was beauty within little things he does, things that made him well, Wonwoo.

No one in school had that either, only one person. And that was the blue-haired male. Beauty is never something you can just pinpoint in someone, it becomes the person. Wonwoo won't admit this but he stared at the blue-haired boy for too long. So long ─ that he was able to notice some of his habits.

He noticed how he would pull his sleeves down when he was embarrassed. Or how he would allow Jihoon to make a small ponytail with his hair. Or how he always clapped his hands even at the smallest of things. Another thing he noticed was that he really liked skinship. Yes, he's only actually talked to the boy for not even two days but he already thought he was beautiful.

Even the way he spoke was fascinating to Wonwoo. He had a cheery tone always which could be annoying, Wonwoo thought it was annoying at first but now he's starting to change his mind. It's amazing that the cheeriest people are often the saddest. Wonwoo did some self-destructing behaviour in his time too, he used to drink alcohol with Seungcheol and Jeonghan often. Not because he was sad; he was extremely happy. He just wanted to rebel against his parents.

But he never understood pain. Maybe that's why the blue-haired male was so interesting to Wonwoo. Nothing hurt him and feeling it just once, it would allow him to do whatever it takes to never feel it again.

The plushies are still in the bag and tomorrow is a Saturday. He's not sure _how_ he's going to give them to the latter, he just knows he does not want to be teased by his mother for having them.

Ignoring his father's request to come talk to him, he goes to his room and flops down on the bed, taking out his iphone and going on his messages.

 **sung-gone:**  
DO YOU AND MINGYU AND SEUNGCHEOL AND WHOEVER ELSE WANT TO HAVE LUNCH TOGETHER TMRRW?

 **Wonda** :  
WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN CAPS AND SURE BUT IT BETTER NOT BE FISH  
CAN'T EAT IT

 **sung-gone:**  
OKAY MEET US IN TOWN AT CAFE DETOX TOMORROA

 **sung-gone:**  
*TOMORROW

 **Wonda** :  
CAFE DETOX? IS IT LIKE A SPA WTF

 **sung-gone:**  
FREE MASSAGE SHXT AS WELL AS GOOD FOOD??? OKAY BYE

 **Wonda** :  
Bye

Now the only thing on Wonwoo's mind is, should he confront Mingyu and Seungcheol about what happened to the blue-haired male? He doesn't want to think about it. So he just sleeps. It may be too early for him but he just wants this day to end already. But at the same time, he doesn't. He wants to see the blue-haired male blush again. He wants to see those cuts and bruises again and even see the new bruises and fix him up. But that's too much to ask for, especially when the boy probably still hates his guts.

__________________________

Junhui has finally realised how important food is. His stomach is growling loudly and even moving is becoming a challenge. If only he had eaten the food Mrs.Lee gave him. Maybe if he ate the food, he wouldn't be entirely weak at the moment. Junhui seen it as charity though. He hated feeling useless, so he was going to starve for a while, at least until next week when he gets the money from his parents. He'd go searching for a job but he doesn't even have the qualifications for one.

But now he's got an amazing idea. of course Junhui hated getting things when he didn't do anything to earn them but Jihoon lent him one of his guitars for the month since he wanted to practise songs. So with the guitar, Junhui could play songs in the town and possibly earn money from it. Even if he doesn't, he should at least try out his guitar playing skills.

He was more confident on piano but, there's no way he could carry a piano into town plus he doesn't even own one. "Guitar it is." Junhui grinned, picking out an orange jumper with a design, black jeans and his usual white shoes to wear.

He took a look at his arms, still sore when he touched the scars. Instead of wallowing in misery he shook his head, wanting to forget what he did last night. Since it was 6:13 a.m he has a few hours to practise songs and possibly come up with a special performance.

________________________

"Right, Wen Junhui!" He said to himself, banging his fist against his chest to produce confidence. "No one's going to judge you. You just have to show them good music and everything will be fine." Repeating the last word over and over he started walking into town, unaware that Wonwoo was also walking there. Just to a different location.

_________________________

"Wonwoo you look...well you don't look tired that's new." Seungkwan commented, stuffing his cheeks with pancakes while Mingyu and Seungcheol shared ice cream with waffles and Wonwoo just had a fruit salad. "I went to bed at like 8 p.m then I didn't wake up until 11 a.m." Wonwoo replied, playing about with the strawberry. "I went to bed at...I don't remember. Probably around 12:00 a.m."

_________________________

Jun was still sore, so walking was a challenge but at least he could rest when he got there. The sky was bright blue, clouds dusting over the sky, creating a trail. Some people were already taking interest in him because of the guitar on his back, a few even following him thinking he was going to perform.

He saw a lonely bench that was facing a lot of stores. Quickly, he sat down on it, allowing the people who followed him to sit beside him too. "Do you have a song you want me to play?" Junhui had a chance to finally be himself without judgement. No one here knew his financial situation so they could only judge him based on personality and we all know he has an amazing one. "Could you play B1A4's a lie?" The old man beside him asked politely, excitement in his eyes. "Of course!"

⏪Look up B1A4's A Lie and skip to halfway through the song this will be the translated lyrics ⏩

He began strumming the guitar, the sound appealing to the audience around him. He began singing softly, " _The words that I said were all a lie, telling you to leave as a lie, a lie.._ " More people started approaching the singing boy, carefully listening to him sing. " _The words that I said were a lie, please don't go, it's all a lie, a lie, they're all lies."_

The build-up was now reaching its climax as his soft voice turned into a stronger but still gentle tone, " _Your smile that has been buried in the dark, your sunlight that had been trapped in the dark every day. I will let you_ _go now into the bright sunlight, you had lived there. Your shadow that had always been weak and down in the dumps, you were always alone, while being lonely and biting your lips, you swallowed back your tears and endured the pain. You spent each day in distress..."_ Junhui finished the song, looking over at the man who had a tear in his eye.

"Does this song mean a lot to you?" He finally asked, a fast reply was given by the old man, "My wife and I had lost our baby years ago. I didn't show her I was suffering and I didn't see how much she was suffering either. At night I would hear her cry, saying things such as 'I miss you, Jimin' that's what we were going to call the baby, you see. One day she had it, she couldn't take the heartache anymore and well, she left me. I don't blame her though, I was getting drunk all the time, got fired from my job and locked myself away."

Everyone listened to his story, Junhui especially. "I hope you're recovering." He said sincerely. "Slowly but surely. Thank you for singing, your voice is wonderful." The old man gave a small but honest smile, allowing everyone else around him to ask what songs they wanted the blue-haired male to play. "Can you play BTS Butterfly?"

"After that can you play Broken Heart by Monsta X?"

"Please play Beast's Highlight too!"

"Of course!" Jun quickly got onto the next song, fatigue trying to come over him but he wasn't going to let a 'little' tiredness stop him from making the people around him happy.

__________________________

"Someone's playing outside!" Seungkwan smiled, making the others look outside to see a large crowd around a bench, unable to see the person who was performing.

An older woman walked in the cafe being greeted by one of the staff. "How's one of our most prized customer's doing today?" A younger girl laughed, taking the woman's order. "Amazing! The young boy outside is such an outstanding singer I just had to get a drink before I go back to watch him. Someone asked him if he was good at dancing and he said yes so he's going to perform a dance after he finishes the song. He's going to dance to TEN, I think."

⏪[Play TENs Dream in a Dream](https://youtu.be/V4gCv1CifJg)⏩

The four boys listened to the short lived conversation. "I guess I can take my break now to watch him then." The younger girl clapped her hands together, allowing someone else to be in charge. "Shall we go?" Mingyu asked the trio. "You mean to watch him? I guess we can." Seungcheol said, getting up then leaving the cafe with the rest of them, forcing Wonwoo to pay the bill.

Wonwoo quickly got outside then noticed how the circle had gotten bigger and wider, probably making room for the person to perform. TEN's 'Dream in a Dream' music was playing from someone's phone and the person performing was none other than the blue-haired male. Mingyu and Seungcheol had a frown on their lips whereas Seungkwan was thoroughly enjoying him dance.

The dance was powerful. Instead of sticking to the actual choreography he changed some parts, replacing moves with flips and wushu movements. He nearly fell halfway through but covered it up by turning it into a hand-stand. For a moment it felt like everyone was in a trance, so mesmerized by the boy's graceful movements that time just...stopped.

Wonwoo stared at the boy's face as he danced. The swelling on the eye had came down and his lip, though not healed, looked a lot better than it did yesterday. 

"So...was my dancing bad?" He asked shyly, cheeks beginning to burn up. The crowd cheered loudly, leaving the blue-haired male money on his guitar whilst Mingyu and Seungcheol booed him, a sad smile on his lips as he heard them. "Ignore them, you were amazing. Encore! Encore! Encore!" Seungkwan chanted with the rest of the crowd but Wonwoo just...stared. He didn't know what else to do.

"Ah, okay! Does anyone have an Exo song? I only remember their choreography." He smiled bashfully, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Wonwoo was positive he saw deep red cuts on the boy's wrist but he didn't comment. Maybe he was just imagining it since they weren't there the other day.

The music changed to Exo's 'Overdose' and he began dancing once more, captivating the audience's attention. Nobody knew it since Junhui didn't show it but his body was slowly shutting down. Of course it would do that though. He's went four days without food possibly even more because he sure as hell wasn't counting and he just wasted all of his energy on dancing. It's only midway through the latter's dance that Wonwoo finds himself lurching forward, catching the blue-haired male who had now collapsed.

The crowd went into panic, Wonwoo bewildered, Seungkwan scared to death while Mingyu and Seungcheol were smiling devilishly. The only time they calmed down was when the blue-haired male finally came around, eyes fluttering open only to see a panicked expression on Wonwoo's face. "Sorry...I guess I overdid it." He apologized to the people around him and tried to get out of Wonwoo's grasp, but he didn't let go of the blue-haired male. It's not like he was going to be able to walk anyway.

  
"Don't worry about it! Just make sure you eat and get plenty rest." The woman from the cafe stated, people nodding with her. "Wonwoo, can you let go now? It's kind of embarrassing." He whispered to the younger, feeling all eyes on him. "If you can walk I'll let go." Wonwoo smiled slightly. It felt different when the latter called him by his name. Not a bad different, just a..different kind of feeling.

"I can walk." He let go of the taller and once he started walking near the bench he nearly fell until Wonwoo snaked his arms around his waist, pulling him back into his chest. "I'll walk him home." He said, grabbing the guitar with the money. They walked past Mingyu and Seungcheol, seeing the distasteful look on their faces was enough to bring back to reality. Wonwoo simply ignored them.

Within a few minutes they were away from the crowd and on their way to Junhui's house. "You know where my house is right? It's a pretty poor area. It might not be able to live up to your high standards." He laughed slightly, peering at Wonwoo's face to see his reaction. They were probably _too_ close considering Wonwoo was turning into a beetroot.

"I think I can handle it. And yeah, your house is down the left street and not the right one?" He asked, trying to remember which street they had to take. "Yep. But you already know that since you and your friends took that picture." He simpered, unaware that Wonwoo took the comment to heart.

They took the left street, Wonwoo in rather shock as they walked down it. There were too many small houses for his liking. And he liked zero houses that were small. "Mine's down there." Junhui pointed at the worn down bungalow. "You _live_ in that thing?" He stared at the bungalow with a lascivious look. "Okay first of all, it's a _bungalow_. Secondly: _yes, yes I do_." It dawned upon Wonwoo that he would have to walk into the so called 'bungalow' which he wasn't ready for.

"I can walk myself in y'know? Since you look like you just died and I wouldn't want my 'poor people' ways to rub off on you."

"Well that wasn't sarcastic at all." Wonwoo rolled his eyes, picking the latter up bridal style then opening the door. "You don't have to carry me like a bride!" Junhui whined, lightly banging his fists against the brunette's chest. "You punch really weakly..." Wonwoo commented, gently setting the now seemingly 'small' boy down on his bed since there was no couch. "And you're really squeamish yet you don't see me pointing out your flaws now do you?" Well that comment backfired on you Wonwoo.

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes until Junhui's stomach grumbled. "You sound like you haven't eaten in days." Wonwoo chuckled, taking out a packet of jelly snacks then handing it to the latter. "Something like that." The older replied, passing the snacks back to him. "You haven't eaten in days? Take the snacks I don't even like them." He opened the packet, shoving one in the older's mouth then decided he'd lie down on the bed.

"How can you _not_ like jelly snacks?" Copying the action, Junhui took a green apple gummy, placing it in the younger's mouth. "I bet you tried the nasty orange flavoured one. So...how is it?" This time Wonwoo actually enjoyed the flavour. "Well it didn't taste like crap this time so a lot better." Junhui beamed, almost 'blinding' Wonwoo with his smile.

"Are you going to tell me your name now? Not to brag or anything but I did save you from ruining your cute face." Wonwoo said abruptly. "Cute?" Junhui stared at the boy with innocent eyes, no sign of cockiness anywhere on his face. "N-no! Did I said cute? I mean cutecumber no! I mean cucumbers. Cucumbers are a fruit and not a vegetable. Yeah. You should eat cucumbers." Wonwoo rambled, turning away from the boy. "Well for the record, I don't tend to say secrets so you'll have to find out another way." Junhui grinned, earning quiet mumbles from the latter. "I will."

Suddenly Junhui's tablet made noises. "You have a tablet?" Wonwoo asked, peering over the latter's shoulder. "Jihoonie is lending me it so we can stay in contact. I'm still poor, Wonwoo." Junhui laughed, elbowing the latter. He _should_ be telling the younger to leave and never talk to him again but he doesn't. "It's Jihoonie! Um...Could you hide? Only for a minute." Wonwoo nodded then went to hide under the bed.

"Wow, Mr.Lee! I see you're wearing a fancy purple suit. What's the occasion? Did you finally decide take your best friend's advice and find yourself a man?" Wonwoo poked his head out to have a sneak peek of the overly excited blue-haired male who was busy doing the 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge' action. "Apologies Mr.Wen but my best friend's advice is horrible and I am actually dressed in this 'dapper' suit for a premiere. Remember how I showed you dad's screenplay? He wrote it for this movie and he got invited to see it tonight." Jihoon replied proudly.

"Yeah! He wrote a great screenplay. Are you nervous Mr.Lee? I mean you're going to be around celebrities and a bunch of cameras so tell me, what are your secrets to cope with the nerves?" Junhui deepened his voice and broadened his shoulders, acting as a reporter. "Well Mr.Wen, I have my best friend being his usual dorky self so I'm not worried about meeting some big 'hot-shot' celebrities with enough botox to even make Gordon Ramsay's wrinkles disappear." Junhui snorted causing Wonwoo to look at the boy once more.

The glint in his eye when he was talking to Jihoon was so natural. It felt (at least to Wonwoo) like the blue haired male really treasured the latter and thought of him like he was the whole world. The same for Jihoon. Wonwoo enjoyed observing people, more the blue-haired male than Jihoon. But the love in Jihoon's eyes was so real and intense, Wonwoo felt threatened by it. Actually, he felt more jealous than threatened. He doesn't have a right to be jealous of course but he is. It's not even been a week yet here is, jealous because he wants the blue-haired male to show him the same fond expression he shows Jihoon.

Sure he got one smile but that wasn't enough to satisfy him. The bet was to make him fall in love which was already failing miserably. Kind of. Okay he smiled and blushed once but does that really count as a 'Oh my God Jeon Wonwoo I'm falling in love with you.'? Not exactly.

"I have to go Mr.Wen. Make sure to charge the tablet so we can talk later." Jihoon frowned. "Don't frown Mr.Lee! I'll make sure to charge it so I can interview you again later." Junhui gave his usual eye smile, leaving the video chat to look at Wonwoo. "At least I know your surname now, _Mr. Wen._ " He grinned, clapping his hands then standing up. "I know your surname too _Mr.Jeon_." He rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I have a question. What are you scared of?" Wonwoo sat back down on the bed, leaning his head against the wall. "That's a random question, Jeon Wonwoo." Junhui poked the younger's forehead then continued on speaking. "I'm scared of thunderstorms, moths, insects, love in general I guess." He hummed quietly, playing with his fingers. "Why are you scared of those things?"

"Um you _have_ seen a moth right? They're so creepy and they eat clothes. Insects are scary in general. I guess I can tell you why I'm scared of thunderstorms. Back when I lived in China there was this really bad thunderstorm. I was probably six then." Wonwoo listened intently, tensing up when the latter put his head on his shoulder but soon relaxed once he discovered the male was too busy lost in his past to even notice what he did.

"Anyway, I was playing with my best friend then all of a sudden a massive storm came. He ran off before I could catch him so I started looking for him. Can I just say, you should **never** run when a storm is happening. I went to the forest because that's where we always played and well my mind thought, 'Of course he would be there' instead of thinking 'He's at his house.' I got into the forest but then lightning started striking random trees and the thunder seemed to get louder because I couldn't even think in that situation.

"The next thing I know is my leg got trapped under a tree when I tripped over a rock. I'm not the luckiest person in the world I guess." He laughed bitterly, pulling his blanket around his body. "Before you say my parents came to save me, they didn't. A man in his fifties or so did. Actually, it was just a lucky encounter. More so for me than him."

"Did he die..?" Wonwoo queried, feeling alarmed. "No! He didn't die at all. I'm pretty sure he's still alive today. But the man had a noose in his hand. I actually just thought it was a rope to save me at first but later on I'll tell you why he really had it.

"Luckily, he lifted the tree rather easily and then he took me to his house because all I got was a pretty nasty scar." He pulled up his pant leg to show the scar; now a white colour and oddly shaped like a bird located near his ankle. "It looks like a bird." Wonwoo examined the scar in bewilderment. "Yeah. I always thought it was pretty weird too. I've only ever shown Jihoonie this so you should feel special." Junhui simpered, pushing the younger's lips into a smile. "I do." Wonwoo grinned, trying to not blush.

"At his house he cleaned the wound and he sat infront of me. So I asked him, 'Why did you have that rope in your hands?' Also another thing: back then my family were just starting out in their piles of debt so we basically just had a better version of this bungalow. It was a decent sized house but we never really had technology and whenever my dad was able to give me pocket money I always gave it back to him since he needed it more than I did." He stated, allowing Wonwoo to imagine what kind of life he had back in China.

"The man said something that's always sticked with me. He said, 'Son, sometimes people won't be happy. You've seen how people behave right? We base a person off of social class and we treat them according to that status. Not all people are like that, I'm not like that and I don't think you're like that either. When people overuse you like a machine without any real purpose that will benefit you, you tend to break down.' So I replied with, 'Like a machine?'

"His smile looked so broken back then. He answered back with, 'Yes, like a machine. Machines help us right? And people tend to rely on the machine for everything but once the machine is overused it breaks down and people forget to appreciate all the amazing things that machine did and they end up deeming it as nothing more other than a scrap piece of metal.'

"I would've questioned him further, ask him to explain more but I didn't. It was stupid of me to ask 'Are you sad?' But at the same time it wasn't. He answered me honestly even when sadness didn't feel like such an awful feeling, he showed me how cruel of an emotion it was. You're still listening, right?" Junhui looked up to see the boy paying full attention.

"He said, 'You're the first person who's ever asked that. I guess I'm more than sad. It's an awful emotion ─ to feel sad that is. But I think sadness is at its worst when you consider it to be normal. Some people will be so sad that they'll do anything to feel another emotion. That's why I had the rope in my hand. I just wanted to feel something different. I'm glad I saved you though.'

"I don't remember everything in detail but I remember hugging him and telling him that I'd cheer him up; make him see that life is beautiful. He believed me and soon he found himself a soul mate! And one day I came to him because I found a reason why life is beautiful too. All in all, a happy story! But yeah still scarred for life because of thunderstorms." Junhui clapped his hands, taking Wonwoo out of his trance.

"But you still didn't tell me why you're scared of love and what was the reason that you found life beautiful?"

"Tsk tsk, Jeon Wonwoo. It hasn't even been a week yet and you already want to know my secrets. Those stories are for another time. Anyway, what are _you_ scared of?" He took the last jelly snack, turning himself around to face Wonwoo directly. "Rejection, I guess. That's about it. Nothing else really scares me."

"For what it's worth I don't think anyone would reject you. Unless you had a criminal record..then you might get rejected by border security when trying to enter another country. But other than that! Everything else should be fine." The blue-haired male beamed whilst Wonwoo's insides felt like they were turning to mush. "Would you reject me?" He queried. "I don't know how to answer that considering I've only known you recently and you've been a jerk to me quite a lot." Junhui laughed.

"If I showed you that I _wasn't_ a jerk though? What would you do then?" It took Junhui a few minutes to realise he was backed up against his wall whilst Wonwoo was inching forward, getting closer to his face each second. "You're really close and I have claustrophobia." Junhui blurted out, trying to avoid answering the question.

"You didn't say you were scared of closed spaces plus you live in a pretty small house. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to dodge my question Mr.Wen." Wonwoo grinned, casually placing his hands on either side of the boy, leaving him trapped. "If you show me you aren't really a jerk, then I'd like to be your friend. There, I answered your question." Junhui smiled awkwardly and Wonwoo finally backed away from the latter.

'Of course he'd only consider being your friend Wonwoo he's not going to want to be anything else since you keep screwing him over.' Wonwoo thought to himself.  Just because he thought that doesn't mean that it stung any less though. Wonwoo found happiness in being a jerk (a rich one too) and that wasn't going to change any time soon, no matter how special a certain someone was.

It doesn't matter though. Minghao gave him two months to make the blue-haired male fall in love with him. _How hard could it be?_

"I should get going so I guess I'll see you in Scho---" Wonwoo looked around the room before noticing the blue-haired male curled up like a kitten, sleeping in his thin blanket on the bed and snoring softly. He must've been so lost in his own thoughts that the boy fell asleep without him realising. "Sweet dreams." Carefully, he got off the bed then knelt down to take a good look at him.

His blue bangs were brushed to the side, lips lightly damped with saliva (probably from drooling) and his nose scrunched up which Wonwoo found immensely adorable.

His sleeves had risen quite a bit and there they were, new, deep red cuts lining up along his wrist. A frown was forming on Wonwoo's lips as he gently trailed his finger along the latter's skin; smooth yet bumpy when he dragged it along the scars and cuts. The cute kitten like male stirred in his sleep, clinging onto the nearest object next to him and that was Wonwoo's hand. Instead of pulling away, the younger sat down on the floor, leaning his head against the bed whilst intertwining their fingers together.

"You know...Your hand is actually really warm. I've never held anyone's hand. Apart from a few girls but I don't know. Yours just feels different. I can see why Jihoon always holds your hand now. If I can say one thing though ─ I bet I can hold your hand way better than he does." Wonwoo whispered the last part, slowly removing the older males hand from his then he stood up. He left the bungalow, a sheepish smile never leaving his face as he walked home. 'It _would_ be nice to hold his hand again' Wonwoo agreed with his own thoughts.

_____________________________

Monday had now came around. Wonwoo hasn't confronted Mingyu and Seungcheol about them beating the blue haired male up but he _has_ bought a few packets of jelly snacks for the latter. It was now time for Wonwoo's first class which was English and to his surprise, the blue haired male was already in the classroom. He should be used to the latter being full of surprises but well ─ he just couldn't.

His other friends were in the classroom so there was no way he could sit beside the blue haired male. But that wasn't going to stop him from glancing over his shoulder every five seconds just to look at the boy.

Today, they were doing creative writing. The teacher told them to write a short story about a time when they felt happy. A simple task, but one that challenged those with a wide imagination. Wonwoo was always top of the class in English so he had no idea that the blue haired male could even come close to his grade. It was the only class Wonwoo's parents didn't need to bribe the teacher for.

"Jeon Wonwoo would you like to read your story out?" Wonwoo nodded, shifting in his seat. Junhui turned in his seat to listen to the younger's story.

"Adrenaline is pumping through his veins as he takes a step closer to the edge of the cliff. Though it may be high; his mind isn't thinking about that. All he's thinking about is being immersed in the water, finding serenity in a whirlpool of thoughts that were already surrounding his mind.

"He takes another step. He's at least ten feet away from being submerged in the blue sea yet it doesn't seem that far. Before he can comprehend what's happened, he's already in the water, seaweed dancing along with the current. For a minute everything feels normal. But normal is never really 'normal.'

"As he surfaces, the only feeling he has is a feeling of excitement, a feeling of content. In the sea that's where he belongs, and that's where he wants to stay." Wonwoo finished speaking, his eyes roaming over the room to search for the blue haired male. Once he sees him, his eyes light up when the latter is clapping for him.

"That was great Wonwoo. The ending is really abrupt though so you should work on that. Mr.Wen, do you want to read out your story?" For a moment, it looked like he froze but in the end he agreed to read out his story.

"Some people define happiness as a moment or as a thing. But happiness to me; It's a person. Some people will find that strange, but life itself is rather strange. Home isn't the place where you come from, it's the place where you feel most safe.

"It was just a normal day in Shenzhen. The sun was setting; ambers and pinks filling the sky whilst the star was shining brightly. My best friend at the time wanted me to make more friends so I agreed and we played for about an hour until I fell.

"There was a ditch where we were playing and I fell into it. So I said to them, 'Help me up!' because the ditch was far too big for me to get out of it myself. But there was silence. The only thing I could hear were the lonely cries of the wind. It took me a few minutes to realise they weren't coming back for me. I was lonely and so was the wind, but I couldn't keep the wind company. How do you understand something that can't even speak back to you?"

Wonwoo listened carefully to the latter. "It felt like I was on my own again. Previously, there had been a terrible storm which I just so happened to get caught up in. This man saved me, but he felt so hopeless, he thought that the world hated him. That the world only used him.

"I promised him I'd show him the beautiful things that are apart of this world but I never found one. I thought I'd stay there forever. Thinking about it now is rather amusing but as a six year old I thought it was the end of the world.

"Another boy heard me though. He was the same age as me and had dark brown hair. He didn't look like he was from China but that didn't matter. Once he held out his hand to pull me up I finally found my reason to why the world is beautiful.

"Flowers are pretty, their petals soon fly away though. Money is nice and all, but once you have everything, there's no more joy. In the end ─ the only thing that is truly beautiful, is people. We all have someone who is so amazing and wonderful that they just become this beautiful person despite being flawed. Lee Jihoon: the boy who saved me and the one I call my best friend, is truly a beautiful person. Ever since he came into my life, happiness is the only emotion he's given me.

"People can disguise who they really are quite easily. But once you break down those walls and get to know how they are and what they think, you realise they have a beautiful mind but not only that ─ you realise they have a beautiful heart as well." The blue haired male finished his story.

A lot of people laughed at him but the teacher stood infront of him, glasses beginning to fog up. "That was magnificent. Ignore them, they just don't realise how wonderful life is. Your story was truly beautiful and I bet the Wen family are so proud that their son is such an extraordinary person." She smiled, clapping her hands in an applause, forcing her students to do the same. "Thank you, Miss." He smiled graciously, taking his seat not before noticing Wonwoo had no expression, just a poker face. 'I guess he's tired of showing emotion' he thought to himself.

_____________________________

The next class came and then another one after that and then another one. Junhui was actually going to the classes despite having insults hurled at him and the more than often kicks under the table from one of the students, kicking his shin each time on purpose.

Wonwoo was ignoring him, even when he wasn't sitting next to his friends. Jun glanced over his shoulder a couple of times just to look at the brunette but he never looked up at him. He felt hurt. He told the younger male his fears, showed him his house, even showed him the scar he got from that thunderstorm and yet he was ignoring him, treating him like he was a burden.

Wonwoo, on the other hand, was jealous. Once he found out that Jihoon was the reason why the world was beautiful to the blue haired male, he felt pretty shit to say the least. Sure, he shouldn't have expected the latter would write about him, but he still **hoped** he would've. But no. It was about Lee Jihoon as always. Was Wonwoo really that bad? He didn't think so. He thought he was great (even if it sounded cocky) so why wouldn't the latter talk about _him_ for once?

Time seems to go by painfully slow as Wonwoo desperately tries to not look at the blue haired male. Finally, the lunch bell rings and Wonwoo runs to his friends usual table. He doesn't fail to notice the boy who is taller than him, sitting in a corner with a drawing pad in his hand; his fingers holding the hb pencil, sketching away and looking ever so small but he ignores it. He talks to his friends the whole lunch time.

After more painful hours of avoiding the blue haired boy they're allowed to go home. "Wonwoo, are you walking home with us?" Mingyu, Minghao, Hansol and Seungcheol ask in unison. He scans the area, no sign of the latter anywhere so he agrees then walks home with his friends.

______________________________

⏪Play 1-800-273-8255 by Logic⏩

 

"How does it feel knowing Jihoon will never be back?" Jeonghan grinned maliciously, staring down at the blue haired boy who was once again on the floor, blood spewing out of him. "Jihoonie will be back..." Junhui kept on saying the same sentence aloud. They brought the bats again. His body hadn't recovered yet and they just made it worse. If there was a few broken bones, it wouldn't be surprising; it would be surprising if he hadn't had any fractures at all.

"Does it hurt?" Jeonghan kept asking the same question. 'Does it hurt?' And Junhui could only respond with, "I'm fine." Every single time. So they started punching him once more. Not that they cared anyway. Junhui never told the teachers and if he did they would most likely do nothing considering how every single student apart from him was wealthy. He's a rag doll. He's a personal punching bag and most of all ─ he's a concrete angel.

He staggers home after the beating; falling down every few minutes because his ankle is struggling to support the heavy weight. He wants Jihoon. He wants his real home. He wants his best friend to come back. He needs his lifeline again because he's hanging by a thread.

The thoughts of suicide have been running through his mind and he can't exactly call a suicide hotline when he has no phone. Nobody loves him or even wants him in this world. That's what it feels like anyway. If anyone else knew about his financial situation, they'd probably do the same thing like all of the people in his school did. He's petrified of that. He's even petrified of breathing.

The people who are just like him, still look down at him as they see him struggle on the street. Status shouldn't mean shit and yet, it does. The people who are deemed as 'poor' seem to freeze as Junhui walks to his house, blood all over him, bruises covering his face.

Once he falls to the ground because of the unbearable pain, an old woman rushes to his aid, pulling him into a meaningful hug just like a mother would. "People are so cruel..." She says, a tear rolling down her cheek and that's when Junhui breaks down. Loud sobs are the only thing she hears as she holds the boy even closer, praying to whatever God is out there to just let the poor kid hold on for another day.

She looks at the people who are just like her and they stare. Even more painful, heart-wretching cries come out from the boy and her heart breaks into a million pieces once she hears him say, "Eomma" over and over again. "Please stay strong, Junhui."

Junhui's heart breaks into a million pieces more once he realises the old woman isn't real.

He's not crying. He's lying on the pavement broken and bruised because every time he moves, the aching only gets worse. He can't cry. He wants to, but the positive side of him won't let him. He wants to believe someone will come help him like old times but no one does. Junhui knows there's some wonderful people in the world but he knows there's cruel people too. And right now, he was like a red rose in a bouquet of wilted flowers; keeping hope in a nation of injustice and greed. **Junhui truly is beautiful**.

______________________________

Later that day he's able to get into his bungalow on his own but he's still aching all over. He doesn't video call Jihoon or even talk to him at all that night. He doesn't know how else to talk to the boy without him questioning why his face has so many bruises. He can't come up with a believable lie. "Jihoonie doesn't need this." He says this to himself. And so, forces himself to not talk to Jihoon; at least not until the bruises fade away.

_______________________________

"Jihoon-ah, what are you thinking about?" His mother sat beside him, caressing his hair gently. "Jun hasn't video called me at all. He's not even online and he's always online! He usually calls me straight after school or an hour later but it's been three hours already." Jihoon gripped his hair tightly in frustration. Junhui _always_ wanted to talk to him and if he wasn't mistaken ─ Jun had no clubs he needed to go to.

"I think someone's love-sick."

"I'm not love sick! I'm just worried. He's my best friend." Jihoon buried his face in his arms once he looked at the weather forecast in Korea. " **Best friends with benefits**." His father smirked, pouring some coffee into his mug. "There is no benefits! Just best friends. It's going to thunderstorm in Korea soon..." Jihoon sighed loudly, thinking how the blue haired male was going to cope.

"Junhui has a fear of thunderstorms. Do you think he'll be okay?" He asked his parents, gaining a nod from the pair of them. "He'll be fine, I'm sure he has lots of friends." **If only.**

______________________________

⏪Play Daisukidayo by Boys Republic⏩

The next day Wonwoo is still ignoring the blue-haired male. It's pathetic and petty of course considering he only has one friend which is Jihoon but Wonwoo doesn't care. It's more like he's tired of the boy constantly talking about him. If he's supposed to make the latter fall in love with him, how can he do that when all the blue haired male does is talk about the younger?

Jun would say it didn't affect him but loneliness is a killer. He was never lonely when he was with Jihoon but now he's not here and the loneliness is getting to him.

He tried talking to Wonwoo again but the younger wasn't responding to him. It was their break time now. Junhui went into the bathroom to wash the pen off of his hands until Wonwoo walked in, startling him. "Wonwoo, I don't see why you're ignoring me." Junhui ran his fingers through his hair still, not getting a response from the younger. "I don't know why I even believed you when you said you weren't a jerk. But I guess that's what you do. You get people to open up a little bit and then you don't want to speak to them again." Just as Jun was about to head out of the bathroom, Wonwoo gripped his wrist, probably too hard because Junhui could feel his cuts on his wrist opening up. 

"That hurts, Wonwoo..." Junhui gripped onto Wonwoo's hand, peeling it off of his wrist. "I'm not a jerk." Wonwoo stared at the boys features, now noticing the amount of bruises on his face. Since when were those there? "Then we have  **very** different views on what a jerk is. Let's just pretend I don't exist, okay? That way you'll feel much more happy." Before Wonwoo can reply the blue haired male is already out of the bathroom, leaving Wonwoo alone.

 _______________________________

 "Wonwoo, you know we have a bet so why aren't you even talking to him?" Minghao noticed Wonwoo looking over at the blue haired male who was too busy solving an equation. "Don't worry about it. It only takes girls one day before they confess to me so I don't think I should even try yet."

"No offense but  most of the girls who give you those love notes are easy. Then again, so are you. Maybe that's why you always accept them.

"Anyway, he doesn't seem easy. Just saying you'd be lucky if he didn't kick you into the next century." Minghao looked over to the blue-haired male finished with his work. 

"Hey! I'm not easy and why would he kick me when I could easily buy his whole family?"

"You couldn't buy his family, dumbass. That's considered human trafficking in a way at least.." Minghao was starting to question himself.

"I swear I'm in a class filled with idiots." Seungkwan sighed loudly, shaking his head in disapproval. "Minghao, learn what human trafficking is before you say bullshit and Wonwoo! Why did you make a bet with the devil himself?"

"Oh wow thanks, Seungkwan. I always thought I was an angel." Minghao rolled his eyes. "Yeah, a fallen angel. God kicked your ass out of heaven, bitch." Seungkwan retorted. "Also, I only agreed to the bet because he said he'd get me the book that I really wanted." Wonwoo glanced over at the blue-haired male, a sense of guilt overwhelming him once he saw the latter pull down his sleeves when a small cut could be seen on his wrist.

"For once I actually thought you'd care about him I mean you  _did_ catch him and walk him home that day."

Seungkwan never really cared for Wonwoo's bullshit. He was used to it. One time he had a new girl every day then he would humiliate them on social media. Seungkwan didn't want that to happen to Junhui though. Yes, Seungkwan knew his name. Of course he wasn't going to tell Wonwoo that. 

Ever since Junhui came to the school, Seungkwan's always wanted to be his friend. Sometimes he would catch the boy singing in the bathroom and his voice sounded like cotton candy. As in it's sweet not...you get the idea. 

Recently he discovered the boy could dance too! He always imagined all the fun duets they could do together and how close they could become. 

Seungkwan could never pretend he didn't hear what everyone would say about Jun and it was disgusting. The blue haired male never frowned but even he was sure that he could hear all of the comments about him. If Wonwoo did that to Junhui, it would break him since he didn't have Jihoon anymore and if Seungkwan wanted to keep his original friends, he wouldn't be allowed to make friends with Junhui and help him when Wonwoo breaks his heart. 

 _If_ Wonwoo could break his heart. 

"Seungkwan answer me! What did Wonwoo do?" The youngest of the three woke up out of his trance. "Oh, right. Sorry. Wonwoo swooped in to save him because he fainted in the middle of his dance." He replied calmly. 

"You went to town without me!?!" 

"You were busy 'fucking a girl' your words not mine. Sorry that not all of us have your nasty, hormonal and sexual needs." Wonwoo stated, flicking the youngers forehead. 

"Jesus Christ you're turning sixteen soon. What the fuck, Minghao?"

"What the school doesn't know, can't hurt them." Minghao winked before returning to his math problem. What has society come to? 

_______________________________

It's been days since Wonwoo and Jun have talked, even longer with Jihoon; the person Junhui wanted to talk to most but couldn't because the bruises still haven't faded yet.

As much as Jun desperately wanted talk to Jihoon the other was far more desperate and even more depressed. 

 He kept checking if his best friend was online, but he never was. He asked himself, 'why isn't he online?' (It didn't help that Jihoon hated every single person here) 

He wanted to go back to Korea. He wanted to see his tall Moon Junnie and hug him so hard then scold him for not answering. He wants his warm cuddles, the small nose nuzzles and the fluttering feeling of butterflies in his stomach as the older sang to him back.

But most of all ─ he just wants to hear his voice again. 

His mind wanders back to the day his moonie kissed his cheek and how amazing it felt. If only he had told the older he was in love with him on that day. 

But Jihoon's not even sure if he is in love with him. He loves having the older around, loves his personality, he can never stop thinking about him and he can't help but feel like he's in another world when he's with him but does that mean he's in love with him? 

Jihoon's not even sure Junhui feels the same way. 

All he knows is that there's going to be a thunderstorm in Korea today and he's not there to protect his Junnie. 

_________________________________

Wonwoo on the other hand, his guilt is reaching it's breaking point. School has been over for a few hours yet he still can't stop thinking about Junhui. 

Normally he'd go to his house when school ended (he didn't go to extra classes. Didn't see the point in them.) but his guilty conscience doesn't want him to go home. 

Storm clouds are starting to form in the sky as droplets of rain run down his face. It takes a loud 'booming' noise from the thunder for Wonwoo to realise he's in the middle of a storm. He also realises that the blue-haired male is petrified of thunderstorms.

He's not sure what he's doing but before he knows it, he's running in the rain to the other males house. 

He stops in his tracks once a lightning bolt nearly strikes him but fortunately it doesn't. He keeps running until he makes it to the bungalow. 

He bangs on the door repeatedly which doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do considering it sounds exactly like thunder. 

He's starting to freak out once the blue-haired male doesn't answer. Banging on the door even more, there's still no reply. 

Wonwoo wasn't the kind of person to be persistent but instead of leaving he jiggles the door handle and luckily, it was unlocked. 

He entered the bungalow with a sight that sent his mind into panic. Junhui's hands were bleeding. The pots were overflowing with water. The knife was stained with a red liquid whilst peppers were not fully cut and Junhui was covering his ears looking nothing other than traumatized. 

Wonwoo quickly turns off the stove and hurries over to the blue haired male, taking him into the bathroom to wash his hands. 

"Wonwooie, Wonwooie..." Junhui says his name over and over as the thunder gets closer. He's shaking rapidly, trembling with fear. He needs Jihoon. But that wasn't going to happen.

Wonwoo would have blushed at the nickname but he knows the boy needs his hands fixed it. He has no band-aids so he wraps a cloth around his hands instead. 

The ear bursting sound of thunder echoes through Junhui's ears and without thinking, he hugs Wonwoo from behind, afraid that he'll be alone if he doesn't hold onto him. "Wonwooie..." Wonwoo nods, picking the latter up bridal style then takes him to his bedroom. As he places him down on the bed, Junhui pulls him down begging, "Please don't leave." They're in the middle of a storm so of course he's not going to go outside but even if the storm wasn't that bad, Wonwoo would still stay. 

Automatically, Wonwoo's hands wrap around the latters waist, pulling him closer. He notices the boy is freezing as his teeth are jittering against eachother so he takes off his coat, placing it over the older. The blanket is extremely thin and there's no heating plus Wonwoo always had cold skin yet Junhui feels so warm despite the odds. 

Wonwoo doesn't fail to observe his own heart beating faster than Usain Bolt but he doesn't care. It's not an ideal situation but he enjoys the way the blue-haired male fits so perfectly in his arms. 

"Please don't be a jerk anymore." Junhui mumbles as he buries his face in the younger's shoulder, desperately trying to ignore the thunder crashing outside. "I won't, okay? I promise." His eyes grow big for a second but soon he calms down, snuggling into the coat that smells like a mix of vanilla and rain. 

Wonwoo no longer cares about the Jihoon situation he just cares about the nauseating yet pleasant feeling he's experiencing as the older clings onto him like a koala. 

Soon enough he falls asleep in Wonwoo's arms, lips occasionally  touching his collarbone (by accident of course) and Wonwoo can't help but blush. 

He checks his phone, 8:32 p.m then he slides it back into his pocket and just stares at the sleeping blue haired male. His sleeves were raised up again. Wonwoo could lie and say it didn't affect him once he saw more cuts on the latter's arm but when he sees the word 'free' engraved on his skin by most likely a blade, he's a mess. A crying mess.

Was the latter really happy? Or was it all a facade? No human could act that happy and then destroy themselves. Could they?

 Just like before, he traces the cuts and scars on his arm with his finger, a tear rolling down his cheek as he does it. He wants to see if the older has more bruises on his body or if he has more cuts rather than just on his arms but he can't. 

He takes out his phone once more then takes photos of the latters cuts and scars. Next time, if he ever gets to see them again, he can compare to see if the latter is still doing it or if it was only a 'just to test it out' kind of thing. 

Wonwoo wanted to believe it was the second suggestion. 

But sometimes the happiest people, are often the loneliest. 

_________________________________

Has Wonwoo ever mentioned how fluffy the blue haired male is? Well, he's **extremely** fluffy. He kept petting his hair when he stirred in his sleep which seemed to calm the latter down. 

It's a school day but Wonwoo doesn't have the heart to wake him up, especially when he looked as though he was finally at ease. 

Throughout the night he had curled up on Wonwoo's chest and he didn't mind. He figured the boy moved around a lot in his sleep so he didn't push him off. He also heard the latter mumble  "Jihoonie, I need you.' And, 'Mingming don't leave me, please."

He's not that curious about Jihoon but the name Mingming more than intrigued him. Who was he? And did he have something to do with the blue haired males fears? He wasn't sure. Mingming could be anyone. He could be his imaginary friend for all he knows.

Junhui has always been a morning person but lately he's been waking up later than usual and that's most likely because he doesn't want to wake up.

Ever since Jihoon's been away, memories of Mingming have been invading his dreams and he hates it. Jun's dreams consisted of unicorns, Jihoon (those were the dreams he enjoyed the most), food, his family, the stars and the cherry blossoms whenever they were in bloom. But Mingming somehow keeps finding his way into those dreams, leaving more scars on Junhui's heart. 

Mingming, (when he was younger) was an extremely important person to Junhui. Nobody ever took the time to get to know him (probably because he was overly hyper all of the time) but Mingming was the first person who did. 

Jun always got fuzzy feelings whenever he was around Mingming and when he told his lovely, wonderful mother she said it was love. 

To be more exact, she said, "Love can be painful, yet joyous. It can be amazing but it can be bad for us at the same time. Junnie, as long as you have things that you cherish, that's love." They were simple words but it had a great impact on him. 

Junhui loved a lot of things and all of those things ended up hurting him, Mingming especially.

Love really **did** hurt like hell. 

 He never used the word 'love' with Jihoon. He was scared of that word. Maybe he was jinxed but whenever he used the oh so foreign word, it only ended up hurting him even more. Mingming was in the past, Jihoon was in the present. He's far more closer to Jihoon and the fuzzy feelings are getting too much for him to handle but he'll never use that word. He can't have Jihoon leave him too. 

Wonwoo's hand searches for the blue-haired males as he sees the cloth is lying on the floor. He quickly finds it and takes it up to his face. He nuzzles his cheek against the palm, cheeks burning up once he realises how 'weird' he's acting.  

"Wonwooie..." Wonwoo looks down to see the blue-haired males eyes fluttering open. He quickly lets go of the hand before he can see everything clearly. 

"Morning. Are you feeling better?" Wonwoo awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I guess. Thank you for staying." The latter smiled shyly, raising himself off of Wonwoo. "What time is it?" Junhui stared at the younger male in confusion. It was a lot brighter than it usually is at seven a.m...

"It's 11:29 a.m." Wonwoo slid his phone back into his pocket and laughed once he saw the blue haired males face drop. "Wonwooie! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Junhui squirmed around, falling off of his bed then faceplanting the floor. Real smooth. "Ow..." Wonwoo snickered, helping the older boy up. "We can take a day off. You can show me some cool places and I'll buy you food. Sounds tempting, _doesn't it?_ "  To prove his point about buying food, his stomach growled. Just a coincidence though. He's not a psychic. "Would we get away with it?" Junhui queried.

"Wow, Mr.Wen. I never knew you were a rebel. We won't get in trouble but uh...Can I borrow some of your clothes? I'm still wearing my uniform and my parents would kill me if they found me in the house." Wonwoo shuddered at the thought of being caught by his parents. They would definitely kill him. And then they'd probably feed him to their cats. 

"If you can handle wearing 'poor people' clothes then sure, Mr.Jeon." Junhui giggled then took some clothes, walking into the bathroom. 

Wonwoo decided on wearing a white long sleeved t-shirt with red shorts and his normal shoes. His hair was curlier than usual.

The blue haired male came out a few minutes later wearing a superman hoodie with ripped jeans. Some bruises were showing through the rips but fortunately they weren't big rips so it didn't look that bad. His blue hair was swept to the side and Wonwoo thought he looked breathtaking, even if he didn't want to admit it. 

"You suit commoners clothes." Junhui laughed softly, pulling at Wonwoo's heartstrings each time he heard the latter laugh.

"Let's go get food and I'll pay." Wonwoo took out his wallet. "I'm good. You can buy just for yourself. I brushed my teeth anyway." Junhui opened the door, allowing Wonwoo to go in front of him. 

"Bring your guitar! You can busk on the street." Wonwoo commented, waiting for him to go get the guitar. "You want to hear me sing? And it's Jihoonie's." Jun pouted, grabbing the guitar and returning to Wonwoo's side. "You still haven't told me your name. Don't you think I deserve to hear you sing as compensation?" Wonwoo replied, a smirk making its way on his lips. 

"That's scandalous, Wonwooie!" Junhui gasped before laughing at himself. He's not really sure why he's still calling him that but he likes the nickname and Wonwoo likes it too. He wants to give the latter a nickname as well but he doesn't even know his first name. 

"Fooood..." Without permission Wonwoo grabs the latters hand and pulls him down the street. "Wonwoo, you _can_ let go of my hand y'know? I'm not a child." Junhui stuck his bottom lip out, pulling on Wonwoo's hand. In response, Wonwoo shook his head, "Nope! What if you get lost? I thought you were a 'lost boy.'" Wonwoo grinned, thinking back to the day the latter said that. "I plead the fifth, I plead the fifth!" I'm not in neverland right now so I'm..just a boy?" 

'Cute.' Wonwoo thought that as the blue haired male rambled on about anything and everything. 

______________________________

"I don't remember why I let you drag me here." Junhui groaned, his guilty conscience getting the better of him. He's supposed to help his parents get out of debt but all he's doing is sitting in a restaurant ' where the only thing they sell is ice cream, cookies and anything sweet. Junhui **adored** ice cream. It was basically food porn.

"You would get yelled at for being late though. Just enjoy today! Doesn't it feel nice knowing you won't get beat up today?" **Too soon,** Wonwoo. 

"Hi! What can I get you?" Before Jun could respond a tall, brunette male wearing an ice cream shirt walks over to their table. "I'm your waiter, Jungkook." The tall boy beamed, paying special attention to Junhui. "I'll have the caramel secret sundae with a coke  please." Jungkook nodded, writing down his order then turning to Jun. 

"What would you like?" 

"Ah..I'm fine actually." Wonwoo observed the situation and to be frank, he didn't like it at all. Not because the blue haired male didn't want anything but because of how Jungkook was looking at the latter. If looks could kill..It was obvious Jungkook found the male attractive, I mean, who _wouldn't_? 

"I'll be right back with your order." Jungkook skipped over to the ice cream stall, getting out a bowl then began scooping the ice cream. 

"He obviously has a crush on you." Wonwoo rolled his eyes, looking at the blue haired male who was busy tapping his fingers against the table. "He does?"  _So oblivious._ "Yes! If looks could kill you'd be six foot under from all of the eye-fucking." Wonwoo sighed as Jungkook was coming back with his order and a plate of...cupcakes?

"Here's your order! And I thought you looked too skinny so these are free of charge." For the second part of the sentence  he turned around to look at Junhui. 

"I can't accept this...It's not fair that I get it for free when I didn't do anything." Junhui's eyes looked so apologetic that even Wonwoo was starting to feel bad for God knows what. 

"How about you write down your name on this piece of paper and we'll call it even? Consider it as a debt repaid!" Jungkook flashed his bunny smile and well, we all know Jun would marry food if he could so he writes his name down, not showing it to Wonwoo. "A cute name that matches a cute face, I see." Jungkook grinned as Junhui blushed at the compliment then witnessed the 'bunny boy' walking back to his station. 

If this was a horror movie, Wonwoo would be the guy who 'loves' the main character but then gets shot by the crazy psycho-bitch who turns out to be madly in love with the main character too. Don't judge him, he likes movies.

"Told you! Why did you tell him your name but you didn't tell me!?" Wonwoo sulked, eating his runny ice cream in an attempt to feel anything other than jealousy. 

"Don't worry Wonwooie! I wrote Jihoonie's name instead of mine." Junhui giggled happily, snacking on one of the mini cupcakes. 

"You did?" Wonwoo replied in an overly excited tone. (Not the best way to react when you're trying to convince yourself you don't have the 'slightest' crush on him.) "He said it was cute and my name isn't cute but Jihoonie's is...I did the wrong thing, didn't I?" 

 _Yes._ "Nah."

______________________________

"What song are you going to sing?" Wonwoo and Jun were sitting at a fountain. "I usually take requests..." Junhui began tuning the guitar.

"Well what song are you good at playing?" Wonwoo looked around and noticed they've already attracted two people. "I didn't get to play Butterfly by BTS but I'm good at it, I guess. I don't remember some notes though..." Jun stumbled on some of the notes, cringing every time he got one wrong. 

Wonwoo sat behind the latter, pulling him onto his lap then placing his hand on top of his, guiding it. 

Junhui squeaked when his hand came into contact with Wonwoo's. "Relax. You need help with some of the notes right? I'm not the best but I think I can play all right." Wonwoo began strumming the blue-haired males fingers against the strings. Jihoon helped Jun practice like this before so he didn't really look into it. Wonwoo's hand just felt extremely cold whereas Jihoon's hand was always warm. 

⏪Play BTS Butterfly⏩

"Sing." Wonwoo encouraged the latter so he began singing, allowing Wonwoo to control his hands. " _Don't think of anything. Don't say anything, not even a word. Ayo, oh, just give me a smile, yeah..."_ Junhui's singing started pulling more people in as Wonwoo strummed along the guitar. 

 _"I still can't believe it. All of this seems like a dream. Ayo, oh, don't try to disappear, yeah. Is it true? Is it true? You, you, you're so beautiful that I'm scared. Untrue, untrue, you, you, you.."_ People took out their phones, recording the pair, some even singing along. 

_"Will you stay by my side? Will you promise me? If i let go of your hand, you'll fly away and break. I'm scared, scared of that. Butterfly, like a butterfly, just like a butterfly."_

The singing part had now come to an end and now it was the rap part. Wonwoo thought he'd join in. 

" _You're just like a butterfly. From afar, I steal glances; if we touch hands, will I lose you? You shine in this pitch darkness that is the butterfly effect, your light touched, I forget reality at once.."_

Jun was shocked at first and so was Wonwoo. Their voices sounded amazing together. Wonwoo's voice was more rough whereas Jun's was soft and sweet. 

 The duo finished their sing, a round of applause erupting from the crowd of people.

"Play another song!" 

"Okay!" 

________________________________

"Okay I'll admit, that was actually fun." A smile was never going to leave Wonwoo's face. "That's because I'm fun, Wonwoo-ah." Junhui stuck his tongue out, obtaining chuckles from the latter. 

"Wonwoo!" A girl skipped over to the duo, wrapping her arm around Wonwoo. "Why are you wearing those ugly clothes and why are you with  _him?"_ The girl eyed Jun, a disgusted look on her face. 

"I have a  **name** but that's cool. I'm fine going by 'he who shall not be named.'" A short laugh came out of Wonwoos mouth. "Don't laugh at that, it's so lame. Wonwoo, let's go. We have a date that you promised me."

Oh, yeah. But that isn't until later. What time even is it?" Wonwoo thought it was kind of strange how the girl was wearing her uniform. "It's 4:00 p.m now come on.  You're not suposed to talk to trash." She replied curtly, directing her agression towards Junhui.  

"Then why is he talking to you?" Jun smiled, walking away from the pair. Wonwoo had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing. 

"I hope Jihoon never comes back. Maybe then you'll see how much a waste of space you are." She snickered. His Jihoonie **was** coming back and she wasn't anyone special so why should Junhui care what she thinks?

But he does care. He cares about Jihoon more than anything and he's gone days without talking to him so of course he feels shit. 

"Let's go." The girl grabbed onto Wonwoo's arm, taking him to their date. 

__________________________________

Jihoon is going mad. Not literally...but still! He needs to see Junhui but he's not online. Again. If his parents would allow him, he'd book the next flight to Korea in a heartbeat. 

Jihoon **did** talk to people while he's staying in New York but they aren't who he wants. Who he _needs_. 

"Jihoon, stop being depressing! You're in New York. Go have some fun or remain a hermit crab forever." His mother persisted. 

"There's nothing fun here." He raised his voice slightly, banging his head on the table straight after. "Is there seriously nothing fun here or are you saying that because you miss Junhui?" His father asked. 

"There was a thunderstorm. What if he's hurt?" The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. "He's fine, Jihoon! Have a little faith in your husband." His mother responded, gaining scoffs from her son.

  "He's not my husband! I don't know why I even bothered talking to you about this." He shook his head,  taking his tablet then going into another room. 

___________________________________

On the way home Junhui didn't get beat up for once. Sure, he got some mean comments and dirty looks but he'd rather have invisible bruises over real ones any day! _Okay, that's still depressing..._

On a positive note! The marks on Junhui's face are fading. You would have to squint if you were to notice them. 

"I can talk to Jihoonie now." Jun smiled to himself like a little kid, grabbing hold of the tablet. "NOOO!! I forgot to charge it." Junhui really just has bad luck...And apparently ─ Jihoon has really bad luck too. Hastily, he plugs the tablet into the charger, hoping it would come on soon. 

He doesn't have anything to do other than going into Jun world so waiting is the only thing he can do. Apart from singing. Which he does. He plays the song Shape of you, changing the lyrics. "I'm in love with the shape of food, Kentucky Fried Chicken tastes so good, I'm in love with spaghetti. And last night I was in my room, eating a bowl of stew and all I can think about is Jihoon! I'm in love with spaghettiiiii! Yes I'm in love with spaghetti..." 

___________________________________

"Oh my french fries it's been an hour and it's only at 40%?" Junhui whined. Time isn't his friend at the moment (He's nobody's friend Jun, don't worry.) He wants to see Jihoon. He missed the latters smile to a point where not even food can comfort him. 

"Jihoonieeeee." Jun is currently talking to a sketch of a cat called meowfard. "Meowfard, I miss Jihoonie." Junhui speaks in a higher tone, impersonating the inanimate drawing. ' _You'll talk to him soon, Jun!'_

Throughout the one sided conversation he switches between the two voice. He's not crazy, I swear. Just strange. 

"But soon isn't fast enough." 

' _Why are you complaining when you can't even run fast?'_

"What does that have to do with anything? I just want Jihoonie.." 

_'Why are we asking each other questions? I'm not even real!'_

"I drew you and I'm real! I think my logic has been justified." 

_'No, it **really** hasn't. Go check the tablet.' _

"Don't tell me what to do!"

_'Do you even realise what you're saying? We're the same person!'_

". . .Good point." Junhui looked at the tablet reading '82%' It was enough to talk to Jihoon. 

___________________________________

"IT'S JUNHUI! HE'S CALLING!" Jihoon practically screamed the apartment down when he saw Jun's name pop up, requesting to video chat. "Jihoonie!" Junhui smiled brightly once he saw the huge grin on Jihoon's face. 

"Junnie! Why haven't you been on?" Jihoon didn't fail to notice Junhui's face drop. "I was just busy." He quickly regained his composure. "Wen Junhui, don't lie to me. You think I can't see the bruises on your face?" Junhui looked away, running his hand through his hair (Jihoon once again noticing the wounds on his hands.) "Junhui. What the hell happened to your hands? Why do you keep getting yourself hurt?" Jihoon yelled, startling the blue haired male.

"Please don't yell at me...There was a thunderstorm and I ended up cutting my hand by accident." 

"And why do you have those bruises on your face? First you had a busted lip and now this? Just tell me!" Jihoon begged the latter. All he wanted was to know what happened. He wanted to help. "I tripped." Jun bit his bottom lip unconsciously. "I know you're lying. Tell.Me." 

"The people from our school did it..." Jihoon watched as Junhui trembled, stuttering on his words. He's overwhelmed with shock. 

"Why didn't you stand up for yourself? You know Wushu! You could've easily beat them." 

"There was ten people, Jihoon! Ten people who all have wealthy families and then there's me. The guy who got into a school because of a scholarship." 

"Junhui, you can't let them treat you like shit. How long has this been going on?" Jihoon doesn't mean to sound insensitive, he just doesn't understand. He knew people called Jun names and made rumours up about him but no one touched him whenever he was around.

"When you had to stay behind. . ." Junhui dug his nails into his hand. "...Why didn't you tell me back then? I've stayed behind for nearly two years Junhui!" Hurt. Betrayal. Anger. All of these emotions come into one to form this indescribable feeling Jihoon's experiencing. 

"You had enough problems and sadness in your life. You don't need that. I want to make you happy Jihoonie...." Junhui doesn't ever cry but right now he feels like he can cry an entire ocean let alone a river. But he doesn't. 

"When will you get it into your head that the only person who makes me happy is **you** Junhui! Hiding shit like this, of course it's going to upset me." Junhui stayed silent. 

"Lift up your hoodie." Jihoon demanded. "Why?" Junhui looked spooked once he understood what Jihoon was asking. "Just lift up your hoodie." Agreeing to Jihoon's request, he hesitantly lifted the hoodie up, not taking it off so the latter couldn't see his arms. 

It's at this point where Jihoon loses it. Dark purple bruises and ruby red wounds cover the latters body. Just looking at it hurts. "Junnie..." Jihoon spits out the nickname, tears forming in his eyes. 

"Junnie, can I see your arms please?" 

"Nothing's wrong with them." Junhui replied quickly, pulling his hoodie down. "If there's nothing wrong with them then you can show me." Jihoons worst fears were coming true. 

"No." He replied back nervously. "Junnie. . . have you hurt yourself?" 

"No!"

"Then why can't you show me? You said the scratches were from a cat. They should be healed by now so show me." 

"I said no!" Junhui shut the tablet off, leaving Jihoon to wail loudly. Jihoon's mother came into the room, sitting down beside him. "Junnie wouldn't hurt himself, right?" Jihoon cried into his mothers shoulder. "What's going on sweetie?" Her soothing voice wasn't helping Jihoon calm down, in fact ─ it was only making him break down even further. 

"They hurt him! They've been hurting him for years and I didn't even know about it. He wouldn't show me his arms!"

"Who hurt him?" She asked calmly although her blood was starting to boil. "The people at my school." She cradled her son in her arms, allowing him to get more comfortable. 

"Why would they hurt Junhui?" Jihoon's mother didn't know Jun's situation so she was definitely confused as to why people would want to hurt her precious Junhui. 

"I want to go back to Korea. Please let me go back. Would he really hurt himself on purpose?" Jihoon grabbed a tissue. The panic was becoming too much. "You know we can't Jihoon...Junhui is always cheery and positive. I don't think he would hurt himself. Okay, sweetie?" 

"Yeah..."

___________________________________

"I made Jihoonie cry." Junhui buries his face in his pillow, scared of crying. He doesn't want to cut but with the blade just sitting there, his thoughts are getting blurred by the bad ones, temptations trying to take over.

Would it really be **so** bad to do it just once?  

_Nobody has to know._

"But Jihoonie will know..." Yes, Junhui never admitted to the self-harm but Jihoon was already questioning him about it. 

"I just want to feel normal." 

_'But you aren't normal. Why would you want to be?'_

"Living is painful! That's why." 

' _Life was never supposed to be easy, Junhui.'_

"Then why does it feel like everyone has a get out of jail free card except me?" 

' _The strongest people have the toughest lives.'_

"I'm not strong!"

' _Then why are you still here?'_

"I don't want to leave Jihoonie..." 

 _'If you don't want to leave him you need to hold on._ ' 

"I don't know how to anymore." It's tempting. The blade could make him forget everything. 

_'You're already holding on, Junhui. All you need to do is not let go.'_

"Okay. . ." Jun finally decides that grabbing the blade isn't going to help him. He lets his thoughts driven by Jihoon take over. The last thing he wants to do is hurt him. 

How hard could living be anyway?

 __________________________________

"And now I remember why I never go on dates." Wonwoo dramatically sighed since Mingyu and Seungcheol weren't paying attention to him. 

"Is it really our fault you went on a date with a pretty girl and ended up disappointed because she's dumb as fuck? You can't have someone who's hot and smart at the same time, Wonwoo." Um have you _met_ Junhui? Seungcheol finally got off of his phone, looking up to Wonwoo, giving him the attention he wanted. 

"Sorry Wonwoo but you know a lot of the girls at our school aren't smart..." Mingyu add on, agreeing with Seungcheol. 

"Glad that you're paying attention." Wonwoo rolled his eyes then loked at the pair of them. "Did you two attack that blue-haired guy in our school a few days ago?" Somewhere in the back of his mind, Wonwoo wanted them to say no but that answer he was going to get. 

 "You mean the poor pauper? That's his new nickname and yeah, we did. It was more of a lesson. We don't attack people without a reason." 

"Well what was the reason?" Wonwoo gulped. 

"There's this guy called Sunyoul. He was flirting with Mingyu's girl so we were going to get back at him. After class we took him to the bathroom and 'pauper boy' was there. We told him to leave but he said no." Seungcheol finished his part so Mingyu continued. 

 "We told him he had no purpose being here and he replied with 'I don't care. You can't treat someone like garbage just because he was talking to 'your' girl.'

"He's so aggravating so instead of beating up Sunyoul we decided to hurt him after school." 

 "Could you leave him alone from now on?" Wonwoo asked quietly. "Why would we leave him alone?" 

"I have this bet with Minghao to make the blue-haired guy fall in love with me in two months, remember? How can I make him fall for me when you won't leave him alone?"

Wonwoo could play this off as 'I only want to make him fall for me to win the bet.' But in reality, he hates seeing the boy have bruises all over him and maybe if they leave him alone, he'll no longer hurt himself. Although the scars would be there forever, it would be nice to see the male with no bruises on his face or body. 

"Fine. Only for the bet though." 

"Thank you! Now go home. I want sleep." 

"It's not even 10 p.m yet!"

"Who cares? Sleep is sleep."

"Whatever." The pair got up, leaving Wonwoo's room. 

"Do you think he'll win the bet?" Mingyu wondered. "Not a chance." 

_____________________________________

Fridays have become Wonwoo's new favourite day. It used to be Saturdays but now it's changed. Fridays are when he has art and he enjoys looking at a certain beautiful blue masterpiece. 

He doesn't see the blur haired male throughout the whole day and once he gets to art class, Junhui isn't there. A rational person would just continue to stick around in the classroom, taking it as if they weren't at school but Wonwoo's not a rational person. 

"May I go to the bathroom?" Wonwoo doesn't  wait for an answe. He grabs his school bag and begins searching for the blue haired male. 

Finding him wasn't hard actually. He's lying down on the grass on top of the hill, air swaying in the wind and sun kissing his skin. "Pretty..." Wonwoo said to himself before creeping up on the older, tickling him so he can see the latters smile again.

"Wonwoo!" Junhui smiled, pushing Wonwoo's hands away. "You're missing art, Mr.Wen." Wonwoo gets down on his knees, turning on his back to lay down. "You're missing art too, Mr. Jeon." Junhui smiled small, staring up at the sky. "Why are you out here?" 

"I don't know...Jihoonie and I always lay here and just talk about anything. He's mad at me.." Junhui sighed heavily, a frown forming on his lips and Wonwoo hated it. If Jihoon was here right now, he'd punch him for making the blue-haired male sad. Probably.

"Why is he mad?" Unconsciously, Wonwoo's hand had found Junhui's that was laying by his side. "I thought the bruises weren't that noticeable but he noticed them." Junhui began, unaware of Wonwoos hand touching his. 

"He made me tell him what happened and he got extremely upset about it. Then he asked how long it had been 'going on' for so I answered him and then he started crying...I'm such a terrible person." Junhui's frown was becoming more apparent even though he hated showing weakness. There was just no way he could hide what he was feeling when it came to Jihoon. 

"You're not a terrible person." 

"Thanks, Wonwooie." Jun smiled sadly. "I might not be a terrible person but I feel terrible. Sometimes I wish I wasn't in this situation. Financially, I mean. People might've wanted to talk to me if I wasn't the 'pauper' boy and Jihoonie wouldn't be upset with me...

"There's other times when I'm grateful though."

"You're grateful that you have no money?" Wonwoo's mouth gaped open. 

"That's a very simplistic way to put it." Junhui laughed, a smile making its way onto Wonwoo's lips, feeling accomplished for making the boy laugh. "But yes. I'm extremely happy my parents believed in people and their dreams when so many people had already given up on them. I'm not ashamed of my background at all." Junhui reminisced in the memories of his family. They weren't the best of times but he still cared for them dearly. 

"My parents are wonderful people who believe in others when nobody else does. Of course they aren't the best with money; that's why they're in so much debt but they see the best in **everyone** and that will always mean a lot more to me than some social class status." 

Maybe money **doesn't** mean everything, Wonwoo thought. 

"Your parents seem nice." Junhui turned on his side, showing Wonwoo a toothy grin. "Yup! What are your parents like?" No matter who Jun is talking to, he'll always have this glint in his eye to show that he's actually listening and that he does in fact care about what they have to say. 

Needless to say, Wonwoo felt (in his words) 'so God damn special' that the blue haired male cared about what he has to say considering no one was genuinely interested before. 

"My parents are okay, I guess. They care about me but ultimately it's about money for them." He replied. 

"Well, what about you? What kind of person is Jeon Wonwoo?" Junhui asked, Wonwoo now turning on his side to face him rather than cocking his head every few seconds to look at him. 

"I'm not quite sure to be honest." Which was the truth. Wonwoo didn't know what kind of person he was since he never reflected upon himself. His friends never commented on what kind of person he was either so he's lost, lost in a path of crappy self discovery. 

"Whenever you find out, I'd like to know." He grinned, Wonwoo breaking out into a smile too. "You'll be the first one I tell. I promise." 

"Pinky promise!" Wonwoo nodded, wrapping his pinky finger around the latter's. "I pinky promise." 

They sat in silence for about two minutes until Wonwoo disrupted it by a question. "What are you doing after school?" 

"I'm going to rob a bank and then go home to enjoy watching downton abbey whilst sipping on some tea in my mansion." Junhui smirked as he caught the younger off guard. "I'm just going home."

"Nope! You're coming with me to the arcade." You may ask, ' _Why the arcade_?' Well, if Wonwoo was going to make the latter fall in love with him then he needs to make him forget about Jihoon (that was his logic at least. Kind of stupid if you ask me.) 

"The arcade?"

"Yesssss it'll be fun! I bet going to the arcade will make you feel better. Come on, _trust_ me." Wonwoos hand 'accidentally' came into contact with Junhuis. ". . .Okay, but! I'm going to win you prizes, deal?" Junhui stood up, dusting off his knees. "Deal. I'll wait for you after school."

"Aren't your friends going to be mad though. . ?" Junhui questioned. "Who cares? They don't get to decide who I hang out with." Wonwoo replied back, also standing up. "I'd find that really romantic if they weren't like thugs so I'll use you as a human shield if they come after me like the mafia." Jun giggled, Wonwoo's cheeks burning up from the word 'romantic.' "I shall protect you, my Lord." Wonwoo replied in a serious tone, the two dorks bursting out into fits of giggles and snorts a few seconds later. 

"See you later." Wonwoo hurried off to his next class leaving the blue haired male alone. "Jihoonie..." He frowned once he said the oh too familiar name, his train of thoughts going back to ways in which he could cheer his best friend up and ways to make sure he was no longer mad at him.

_________________________________

"Why are you smiling?" Jeonghan eyed Wonwoo whilst Soonyoung was busy mouthing lyrics by JJ Lin. "I don't know."

". . .Okayyyy then."

_________________________________

"What game should we play first?" Junhui stared at all of the games and consoles in amazement. No matter how many times he came here it never failed to turn him into a kid again (actually he's just a big kid in general the arcade just brought it out more. He's practically a five year old in a 180+ cm body.)

"You're such a kid and let's play Skee Ball." Wonwoo teased the 'older' only getting a cute pout from him in return. "I'm very mature, actually! And okay." Junhui ran over to the Skee Ball machines, grabbing one of the balls and then throwing it into the 100 point hole. "Why are you aiming for the 100 points when you can easily get the 50?" Wonwoo watches the latter continuously throw the balls into the 100 point hole. 

"Why would you settle for second best? Plus, it's all about angle! It's easy to get the 100 if you throw at the right angle." Jun smiled mischievously like a little kid who had just figured out all of the cheats in mario kart. He missed the 100 once but quickly regained confidence as he throws the next ball. 

"Sometimes you can only get second best because it's too hard to go for the gold?" 

"I don't know why that sounds like a question but! Olympians always want to go for the gold even if they're placed like fourth or eighth. I'll never settle for second best!" Junhui jumped around happily, people staring at him as he gets excited over the tickets coming out of the machine. "WINNNNNERRRRR." Junhui chanted as he walked over to Wonwoo, tickets in his hands. "We need to play Pac-Man. It's an arcade must!" This time it was Junhui's turn to drag Wonwoo around. "As you wish, my prince." Wonwoo bowed, enjoying the fulfilling sound of the blue haired males laughter.  

You'd think since Wonwoo has good game in general  he'd be great at Pac-Man, right? _Nope_. He's **terrible** at it. He can't even get one power up because he always gets eaten. _Oh the sad and tragic life of never_ _downloading Pac-Man on your phone_. Maybe if he had done that before Junhui currently wouldn't be on the floor, holding his stomach and making remarks about how horrible the younger is at the game.

"Stop being mean. It's not my fault it's an extremely old game!" Wonwoo helped the latter up then turned away, crossing his arms. "Look who has the high score though." Junhui childishly stuck his tongue out, pointing at the screen which showed the letters 'WJH' 

"That's just called luck! What does the JH stand for?" 

"I'm the unluckiest person you'll ever meet, Wonwooie. And it's a secrettt." Junhui snickered, grabbing Wonwoo's arm. "To the claw machine! Captain Wen and his sidekick Miserable Jeon are on the go!" He pulled the latter over to the claw machines. 

"I'm not miserable and why am I the sidekick?" Wonwoo groaned, placing a coin in the machine. "I suit a cape better! And _true_ you're smiling now, but! You don't smile around others so I think the hero name suits you." Taking hold of the joystick, Junhui begins bringing the claw over to a mario plushy while Wonwoo is only **now** realising that he's grinning from ear to ear. "I'm not smiling." Wonwoo quickly returned to his senses, his poker face now coming into play.

"It's not a crime to smile, Wonwooie. Smiley people are the best people." Unfortunately, once Wonwoo returns back to smiling, Junhui's face drops as the mario plushie falls from the claw right near the opening. "I'm no longer a super smash bro...I have failed you, Mario." Now Wonwoo has a new goal in life and it's called ' _Win_ _that mario plushie and get his smile back.'_

"I'll get you it! Put your faith in Miserable Jeon, Captain Wen." Wonwoo takes the joystick in his hand, dragging it over to the plushie and with his luck, the claw grabs onto a Mario and Luigi plushie and brings it over to the opening, both falling into it. "Thank you!" Without a warning, Junhui jumps into the latters arms, clinging to him like a koala whilst hugging him. 

Wonwoo doesn't push him off. Instead, he holds the 'older' close, enjoying how warm his hugs feel. He shouldn't be a blushing mess because he's hugged many people before but with the blue haired male, it feels different. Though he shouldn't be thinking it, the boys lips look extremely kissable. "Sorry..." Junhui smiles sheepishly, jumping off of the younger. 

"You should keep the Luigi one." Wonwoo agreed, trying to shake away the thoughts of kissing the latter. 

_______________________________________

After hours of playing countless games, the pair stacked up hundreds of tickets. Junhui found out that Wonwoo loves plants, reading, playing mobile games and other facts whereas Wonwoo didn't get one fact about him. They got a massive burrito pillow (Junhui insisted on Wonwoo keeping it), two tokyo ghoul t-shirts and a Yoshi keychain so now they were walking home. 

Junhui had forgotten Wonwoo had went the other way and it was undeniably  dark. He didn't know the time but it was at least 10 p.m and he was lost. _Extremely_ lost. There was stores but none looked familiar to him. The path had street lights but against the dark sky, everything looked eerie. "Maybe I should just retrace my steps..." That _would_ be a good idea if he hadn't had been lost in his thoughts the whole time. 

"Okay, breathe Junhui. You can just ask someone for directions." Walking into the nearest store (which is a cafe) he's actually surprised to see Wonwoo there but he's with Seungkwan. Seungkwan instantly notices the latter, waving him over so he obeys. "Hey! What are you doing here?" Seungkwan smiles warmly, making Junhui feel more comfortable. "...I got lost. I was just going to ask the staff for directions." 

"We can take you home." Wonwoo grinned, Seungkwan noticing but keeping it to himself for the time being and agreeing with Wonwoo. "Ah...no that's fine." He replies back fastly but his answer is merely looked over. "Captain Wen! What if you get lost again? You need to return to your spaceship." 

"Yeah..what Wonwoo said." 

"...Okay." Wonwoo smiles like a little kid who's gotten what he's wanted whilst Seungkwan looks highly freaked out over his friends abnormal behaviour. The pair pay for their coffee then start walking the oldest of the three home. 

______________________________________

On their way to his house, Seungkwan talks about Junhui's dancing and singing with him. The conversation goes on for a while, Junhui wearing a bashful smile but eager to compliment Seungkwans voice that time he heard him sing in the corridors and Seungkwan looking entranced because someone has finally acknowledged his talent. "You're amazing! Don't let anyone ever tell you differently." Junhui stated, glancing at Wonwoo once in a while because he's been extremely quiet. "Thank you." For once, Seungkwans heart feels full while Wonwoo's heart feels heavy. 

Once they reach his house, Junhui flashes his signature smile to Wonwoo, thanking him and Seungkwan for walking him back, waving them goodbye and then entering his home, leaving the two alone. "Captain Wen?" Wonwoo quickly returned to his 'cold exterior' replying to Seungkwan with, "That's lame, Seungkwan." 

"Yeaaaah whatever." Seungkwan sneezed. "Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit. Don't mess with his feelings Wonwoo." He warned him, walking in the direction to his house. "The bet is to make him fall in love with me though?" Even if Wonwoo didn't want to admit it ─ the latter was really starting to mess with his emotions, even breaking down some of his walls and he's not sure if that's a good thing or not.

"I don't care about the bet. You didn't stop smiling whenever he was talking to you and don't think I didn't notice you trying to grab his hand when he was talking to me. You **never** smile, Wonwoo. Yet he's making you grin like it's the easiest thing in the world to do. I don't know if you're faking it but for both of you; you need to. stop toying with his feelings.

"You're younger than me and yet you think you can give me advice? It's just a bet. He'll have Jihoon back in two months so he's not going to be on his own." Wonwoo rolled his eyes. "I'm sure as hell a lot smarter. From the looks of it you're already getting feelings for him. So what's going to happen in two months time when the bet is done and you're left heartbroken?"

Seungkwan was great at analyzing people. Especially when it came to people who never let their guard down. It was kind of like his side job. "I'm not going to be heartbroken. Trust me. Jeon Wonwoo doesn't catch feelings for people. As my friend you should know that best." 

Seungkwan sneezed once more. "What was that again? All of this bullshit is making me nauseous." 

"Haha very funny." 

"Your life? Yeah it's a pretty funny joke." 

". . ."

____________________________________

"Junhui!" Jihoon had spammed him with over two hundred messages and multiple requests to video chat with him. "Jihoonie! Are you okay...?" 

"No, I'm not. Where have you been? I was so worried!" Junhui could see tear stains on the latters cheek and it was tearing him to pieces. "Wonwoo took me to the arcade and I ended up getting lost trying to find my way back home so I ended up finding Wonwoo again and he took me home." He replied quietly, scared he would make his best friend angry. 

"Wonwoo? Why were you even with him? He's an ass! You shouldn't associate yourself with horrible people." It's at this point of time where Junhui realises he's messed up. "Please don't be mad Jihoonie...He seems nice." 

"He's not nice! Of course I'm going to be mad, Junhui. He's just going to use you that's what all of his friends do! He's no different from them." Jihoon raised his voice. "All I'm doing is hurting you Jihoonie. I try so hard to keep you happy and smiley because you're the person I care about most yet I can't even do that at the moment. I _miss_ you, Jihoonie..." 

"Junnie you know I miss you too. So much that it psychically hurts but you wouldn't show me your arms and now you're hanging out with the school's biggest jerk? Please just show me them. I won't even judge you. You care about me, right?" _Ah, the guilt card. Such a classic_. "Of course I do!" Junhui would've said he loved the younger but he couldn't. That word is foreign to him and he wants to keep it that way. 

"Will you show me then?" Jihoon uses a gentle voice. ". . .I can't." Jihoon knows he's going to end up in the same situation as he did yesterday if he keeps pestering the latter about it so he doesn't test his luck. He was already planning something for Junhui. He could find out when the time comes. 

"Okay, Junnie. Are you tired?" Jihoon watches as the blue haired male rubs his eyes; sleep trying to consume him but his brain not shutting down as he wants to talk to his best friend. "I'm wide awake, Jihoonie!" Junhui snuggles into his cold, squishy pillow, a small smile on Jihoon's lips forming at the sight. "Can you tell me a story?" 

 

⏪Play Fools by Lauren Aquilina⏩

 

"You're such a kid but okay. I guess I can." Once Jihoon sees Junhui's face light up he knows he's made the right decision. "There were two princes. One was the Prince of Music and the other one was the People's Prince. The Prince of Music never wanted to make friends with anybody until the People's Prince came into his life." 

"The Prince of Music must've been lonely. . ." Junhui interrupts the story, pouting at the thought. "He was. But then the People's Prince fixed that. They became best friends instantly. The Prince of Music finally had someone to tell his secrets to and not once did the People's Prince tell those secrets. 

"Somehow, the People's Prince became his lifeline and he became his as well. Things started changing though. Slowly but surely, the Prince of Music fell in love with the People's Prince. He could never tell him, though." Jihoon knows he's walking on a fine line right now but he can't help it. Nothing says romance like a second hand story about his situation. Junhui's too oblivious anyway. "Poor Prince of Music..." Junhui commented, sincerity in his voice. 

"No matter how many times he wants to tell the People's Prince that he loves him, he's scared. Even though the People's Prince annoys him sometimes, he loves everything about him. He loves his smile, his laugh, his gestures, his heart, his thoughts, everything. But because he loves everything about him he's scared that if he tells, he'll lose his everything. And that everything, is the People's Prince." Jihoon is trying his best not to cry but that's proving really difficult. 

"The People's Prince cares about the Prince of Music, too. He's not sure if it's the same, though. All he knows is whenever they hug or whenever they're playing, he wants to stay with him there forever. Forever may be a long time but he doesn't mind as long as he can spend it by his side. The end." Jihoon quickly looked away to wipe a tear. 

"Nooo! There has to be a second story. This can't be the end! The Prince of Music needs to tell the People's Prince that he loves him! They belong together." Junhui whined, kicking his feet in protest.   "You think they belong together?" Jihoon questioned, trying his hardest to ignore the butterflies rising in his stomach. "I _know_ they do. I'm an intellectual, remember?" Jun giggled softly, the sound pleasing Jihoon's ears. "I think they belong together too." 

"Then give them a happy ending, Jihoonie!" 

"I'll tell you the second part of the story another time. Are you going to sleep now, Junnie?" Junhui nodded, beginning to doze off. "If you want I can sing you a song to help you sleep." Jihoon blushed at his own suggestion but began singing, " _What if we ruin it all? And we love like fools? And all we have, we lose. And I don't want you to go but I want you so, so tell me what, tell me what we choose_." As he finishes the song, he can hear gentle snores coming from the younger. "Sweet dreams, my People's Prince..." Instead of turning off his tablet, he sets it beside his head, falling asleep with Junhui. 

__________________________________

It's been two weeks since Wonwoo and Junhui have went on an outing together, thus making it a month since the initial bet. They still talked to each other. Wonwoo smiling every single minute, even blushing when Junhui came too close and Seungkwan noticing the massive change in his friend. 

"I'm holding a party on Thurday. Are all of you in?" Seungcheol asked, throwing pieces of paper at the teacher behind her back. "Are we allowed to bring someone?" Hansol replied. "You can bring anyone. It's at 10 p.m." The rest of his friends nodded, Wonwoo having someone in mind. 

____________________________________

"A party?" Wonwoo had been spending his lunch time with the blue haired male ever since their little 'date.' so it wasn't surprising when he had came up to the latter. "Seungcheol said I could bring anyone and I want to bring you." Wonwoo smiled sheepishly. "That sounds like you're asking me out on a date, Mr.Jeon." As usual, Junhui wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, Wonwoo blushing then returning to his usual cocky self. "You can take it anyway you want to, Captain Wen. Just be my plus one pleaseeeee." 

". . .I don't know." Junhui replied in a small voice. "I'll protect you! I swear I won't let anybody hurt you at the party. No one's been hurting you recently, have they?" Wonwoo grasped the latters hand, spooking him. "Your hands are cold, Wonwooie! But...fine. I'll go." Junhui pulls his hand away then continues to draw on his piece of paper whilst Wonwoo is ignoring the ever so annoying butterflies in his stomach. 

At the other table, Wonwoo's friends are observing him. "Don't you think Wonwoo's changed a lot since he's been talking to the blue haired guy?" Chan noted, Soonyoung agreeing with him. "He's been smiling a lot more and he's being nice to us. It's freaking me out, to be honest." Seungkwan commented. "He must really want that book." Minghao cut into the conversation. 

"You think he's acting like that just because he wants a book?" Seokmin intervened. Who would mess with someone's feelings all because they wanted to get a book? _Jeon Wonwoo_ that's who. "The world is a crazy place, Seokmin. And it makes you do crazy things..." 

"Or he could have feelings for the guy and doesn't care about the bet?" Seungkwan asked, silence filling the air. 

"Nah." 

__________________________________

Life is going great for Junhui. He hasn't cut in two weeks, he hasn't been pummeled to the ground, money is still a problem but he's coping. His best friend isn't upset with him anymore and even though the bullying (verbally) hasn't calmed down, Wonwoo told him to just ignore them and that they weren't worth his time. Life is _amazing_. Now he's just hoping it continues like that. 

The days fly by quickly and soon it's a Thursday night. Junhui decides to wear a pair of black jeans with a bright red hoodie and his usual shoes. The plan is to not stick out and just stay with Wonwoo for the rest of the night and to not drink. He's not a 'goodie two shoes' per say, rather, he doesn't want Jihoon or Wonwoo to see him in a bad light. 

With a knock at the door, Jun rises to his feet. Opening the door, he sees Wonwoo wearing a black short sleeved shirt, a few wrist bands on his arm, ripped jeans and a pair of black converse. "Are you trying to blend into the night?" The sweet sound of laughter seems to get rid of the silence and so, they begin walking. 

"Are you excited?" Junhui peers at the latters face, grinning once he can see Wonwoo's bright and endearing smile. "I've never been to a party. Jihoonie told me you drink alcohol and listen to bad music at them though." The stinging sensation Wonwoo feels in his chest when the blue haired male mentions Jihoon's name is ultimately looked over because let's face it ─ he's not wrong. 

"That's...actually very accurate." 

"Jihoonie's never wrong!" Junhui praised his best friend, stopping once he saw how big Seungcheols house is. "Are you scared?" Wonwoo asked in a teasing manner. "It's..Intense to say the least." Instead of laughing at the latter, Wonwoo holds his hand, fingers laced together as they walk into the house. 

Jihoon definitely wasn't kidding when he said there would be bad music. The loud, ear bursting and well, _tasteless_ music rings through the pairs ears making it excruciatingly difficult to talk to each other. Jun can only make out the words 'stay here' as Wonwoo disappears into the colossal circle that is known as drunken teenagers. 

He waits for about half an hour and Wonwoo still isn't back. A few girls and guys tried hitting on him but Jun being the oblivious child he is took "hit me up" as 'fight me' and Junhui said no continuous times, shaking his head. You could almost **picture** the devastation on their faces. 

He starts going upstairs because in the movies that Jihoon's told him about; the friend is always upstairs whenever there's a party. He's not wrong once he gets up stairs. Except it's not Wonwoo. It's his friends instead and they do not look pleased to see him. Junhui can only make out Jeonghans face whilst the rest of them look unfamiliar. 

"Why are **you** here?" One of the guys ask and Jun is shaking in his non existent boots. "Wonwoo brought me. . ." Junhui's careful when he's looking around. If he even **dared** to touch a vase and it broke, well, he'd be dead before Jihoon got back and he is **not** going to die until he gets his long overdue hug. 

Touching the banister seems to irk the group of males in front of him because as soon as he realises what he's done, someone's already sucker punched him in the face. "What the hell?" He wipes the blood off, his face aching from the initial hit. "I don't think you have the right to complain, do you?" Jeonghan cut in, not afraid to kick the younger in his shin. 

Jun tries his best to just go back downstairs but unfortunately, the group of people in front of him are blocking him from escaping. Jeonghan throws him to the ground and someone else spits on him, the saliva running down his cheek. "You stink." Junhui commented, drawing back his foot then slamming it into the person's knee. _Wrong Move, Jun._

The boy grunts loudly, everyone around them watching with sinister smiles the only thing in view. As much as Junhui fights back, the kicks and punches to his already bruised stomach steal his breath. Was there any need to make him suffer? He's not filth yet they're treating him as though he's a parasite, infecting everything he touches with a deadly disease. But he's not a disease. He's only a sixteen year old boy who was looking for someone. 

Blood is something he's used to by now. As it cascades down his face and stomach, he breathes in painful oxygen. "Have you learned your lesson yet?" Junhui doesn't answer but they take the silence as a yes. One by one they go downstairs, leaving Junhui to evaluate the damage. "The poor kid always gets the shorter end of the stick, right?" He talks to himself, as if someone understands. But no one _really_ understands. 

He sees at least three untouched bottles of alcohol on the floor beside him so he takes them. He said he wouldn't do anything bad tonight but he thinks 'fuck it' as he opens the bottle, taking a sip. "How do people drink this poison? It smells and tastes _horrible_." But that doesn't stop him from downing the drink, the cold liquid burning his throat. 

_______________________________

"Where are you going?" Seungcheol questions Wonwoo as he leaves the crowd of people. "I need to find someone!" He yells over the loud music then goes searching for the blue haired male. He goes to their original spot and he discovers that the latter's not there. The next place he goes to is the kitchen. Still no Junhui.  

He checks all of the down floor and finally, he's come to the conclusion that the latter should be upstairs. He's walking up the stairs and once he reaches the top, he's horrified at the sight before him. The blue haired male is bleeding and on top of that, he looks drunk. (Of course he would be drunk he's a minor that can't handle his liquor.) 

"What happened!?" He rushes over to the latter, cursing under his breath at whoever hurt him. "You lied, Wonwooie...I wanna go home." Junhuis speech was slurred but he understood him. He wish he didn't understand because he was right; Wonwoo lied by not protecting him. 

As much as he wants to grant Junhuis wish and take him home, his house is far from Seungcheols and it's freezing outside. Knowing the latter can't walk at the moment he picks him  up, walking downstairs and heading straight for the door. He can hear people call his name but he doesn't turn back. Fortunately, Wonwoos house is close to Seungcheols. He can see the blood seeping through the latters clothes so he might as well give him a new change of clothes. Junhui's too out of it to care anyway. 

His mother and father were staying at a hotel tonight so Wonwoo doesn't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on him. Cautiously, he places the latter on his bed then leaves for a second to get the first aid kit. The alcohol should make cleaning the cuts less painful. "Doctor Jeonnn~" Junhui giggles/hiccups at the new nickname. "I'm just going to clean your wounds, Mr. Wen." Wonwoo's smile is bittersweet. He's happy Junhui is still managing to be his usual cheery self but sad at the same time. Some people really are cruel. 

"Junhui, Dr. Jeon. My name is Junhui! Mr. Wen is too serious." Wonwoo's shocked at first. _Finally_ he knows the latters name. "Junhui." Wonwoo repeats the name, it easily rolling off of his tongue and he thinks the latter's name is pretty. 

Wonwoo sticks a purple bandaid on the latters cheek but now here comes the real challenge. "Junhui, I need to clean the ones on your stomach...Could you remove your hoodie, please?" Junhui nods but finds it hard taking the hoodie off so Wonwoo does it for him. _Okay it wasn't that much of a challenge._

Although he should be cleaning the wounds he's too busy staring at the self harm on his arms and the purplish bruises on his stomach. Rows among rows of cuts and scars are aligned on his arms, even getting close to the shoulders. "It was a catttt." Junhui mumbles, looking at the burrito pillow on Wonwoos bed. "You're like a cat, though..." 

"You caught me." Junhui smiles it off as if the cuts aren't serious then he makes a pun. "My existence is a peach of shit." Wonwoo cleans the rest of his battle wounds, shocked that the boy would even think that of himself. 

"I'm ugly. These scars are ugly too but I think they make a nice masterpiece." Junhui continues rambling on, laughing whenever Wonwoos cold fingers graze against his bare skin. "I think you're beautiful, Junhui." Wonwoo replies truthfully. "No you don't, Wonwooie." His eyes flicker to every corner of the room and Wonwoos eyes flicker to Junhuis face. "I really do think you're beautiful Junhui and your existence matters a lot to me even when I'm acting like an ass." He says sincerely. 

⏪Play Better by SYML⏩

"You're beautiful too, Wonwooieeeee. You probably get told that a lot though. But I think you're not only beautiful on the outside; you're beautiful on the inside too." Junhui shudders as his back leans against the cold wall.

Wonwoo's not sure about his own feelings (he's actually more than sure he's just too scared to admit it out loud) but his face inches towards Junhuis, lips only centimeters apart. "Wonwooie, can I tell you something embarrassing?" Junhui smiles shyly and though it's small, it doesn't stop the fluttering butterflies in Wonwoos stomach calm down. "You can tell me." 

"I've never kissed somebody...I have on the cheek but not on the lips." Junhui takes one of the youngers pillows and buries his face in it, trying to hide his embarrassment. Wonwoo removes the pillow from the latters face then looks into his eyes, both of them blushing. "I'll tell you something as well. I've never kissed somebody that I've really liked." Wonwoo grins when he sees Junhuis shy smile turn into a mischievous one. 

"Wonwooooieeee how do you kiss someone you really, really, really like?" Junhui plays with the strings of his hoodie whilst Wonwoo himself isn't sure on how to answer. "Well...I think this is how it starts." Wonwoo pulls the intoxicated Junhui onto his lap, a more prominent blush can be seen now. 

"Then what Wonwooie?" Jun, still clueless, follows Wonwoo's hand movements, catching one of his hands then cheering as though he's won a treasure. "Junnie." He carries on the e, suddenly feeling extremely shy. "What's wrong, Wonwooie?" Is it right for him to take the latters first kiss when he's drunk? He's not sure. All he's sure of is how fast his heart is beating. 

"Nothing! I'm just...nervous, I guess?" _Wow. Wen Junhui really does know how to get the truth out of Wonwoo_ and _he's not even trying_. Has he turned soft for the kid? _No_. Jeon Wonwoo _never_ turns soft for anyone! That still doesn't stop his lingering fingers to grip onto the latters waist, though. 

"Your hands are cold." Junhui says but he makes no attempt to remove them. Instead, he places his hands on Wonwoo's shoulders to steady himself. Without any further words, Wonwoo finds himself leaning in until his lips are about to meet Junhuis. Maybe it's the alcohol but Junhui doesn't pull away. Almost by instinct, his eyes shut, allowing Wonwoo to have his wish come true. 

Wonwoo gulps, not wanting to keep his prince waiting but scared that he'll be disappointed. He puts those thoughts to the back of his mind as his lips finally meet the latters. The kiss is sweet and gentle and it only sends Wonwoo into a spiral of emotions but he loves it all the more. By accident, he bites the latters bottom lip, yielding a yelp from him (albeit turns into laughter a few seconds later.) "I'm sorry."

Their eyes flutter open and Junhui is almost as red as a tomato and if Junhui is a tomato then Wonwoo is a beetroot. "So that's how you kiss somebody that you really like? Does that mean you like me then, Wonwooie?" Now it's official: Junhui's IQ doesn't drop when he's drunk. "That's a secret, Junnie." _A very obvious_ _secret_ _that's not really a secret._

"That's meaaann." Junhui pouts but it's soon hidden as Wonwoo kisses the latter once more, a smirk playing on his lips when Junhui goes silent. 

"Jihoonie told me a story a few weeks ago and I want to know your opinion on it!" Junhui gets excited like a little kid again, unaware that he's not wearing a shirt as he clings to Wonwoo. Of course Wonwoo feels bitter when he hears Jihoon's name but at least he's kissed Junhui so obviously he's more special. **Obviously**. "What's the story about?" 

"There's two princes. One is called the Prince of Music and the other one is known as the People's Prince." Junhui begins reciting the story, Wonwoo genuinely interested. "Well, the Prince of Music ends up falling in love with the People's Prince but he doesn't tell him. Jihoonie and I think they belong together. What do you think?" Junhui shivers so Wonwoo grabs his duvet, wrapping it around the pair of them. "Warmer?" Wonwoos smile is gentle and warm that it makes Junhui forget what he's saying for a minute. He nods, snuggling into the blanket whilst Wonwoo has his arms wrapped around him. 

"I think there's going to be an under dog." Wonwoo answers honestly because even if Junhui doesn't have any idea on who the story is about, Wonwoo is fully aware and he is **not** going to let the People's Prince end up with the Prince of Music (a.k.a Jihoon.)

"An under dog?" Junhui wonders. "There _has_ to be an under dog. The under dog isn't seen as good enough for the People's Prince by everyone yet the People's Prince falls in love with him." Wonwoo states. "But the Prince of Music deserves love and happiness..." 

"So does the People's Prince. He's a People's Prince because he makes the people happy, right? He should be with someone who will make him the happiest, don't you agree?" Junhuis nose touches the latters when he moves his head. "Your nose is cold, Junnie." Wonwoo kisses his nose, the kitten like male giggling at the skin contact. Wonwoo doesn't want this night to end. 

"But what if the Prince of Music can make him the happiest? Would the underdog be sad?" Wonwoo's wondering how someone could be so oblivious but he knows Hansol so it's not that surprising actually. "I _know_ the underdog can make him the happiest and the underdog would be heartbroken because even if everyone else thinks he'll be fine, the People's Prince has changed him (even if he hates to admit it) and you don't change for somebody unless you care about them." Maybe Wonwoo was being too cocky but Junhui didn't seem to notice. 

"You've changed too, Wonwooie. You're nicer and more smiley now." Junhui cuddles into the latters chest, Wonwoo's heart beating even faster now. Instead of coming out and admitting it, Wonwoo plays it off by saying, "I've always been nice." 

"I wish I would've known the nicer side of you earlier." He beams, Wonwoo laying down on his bed and taking Junhui with him so now he's on top. "I wish I would've gotten to know you earlier..." _'This bet wouldn't have had_ _to had happened, I would be making you the happiest and you would be mine._ ' These are the things he wants to say out loud but he can't. "Me too." Jun yawns, rolling off of Wonwoo to curl up into a ball, ready to sleep. 

"Wonwooie, how do you kiss someone you **really** , really like again?" Junhui asks mischievously. Once Wonwoo realises what he's asking he cups the 'olders' cheeks, kissing his lips softly and to his surprise, he finds Junhui kissing back, allowing the kiss to get deeper. "Like that." Wonwoo can't help but smile as he pulls the latter close to his chest and feels his heartbeat beating just as fast as his own is. "Sweet dreams, Dr.Jeon." 

"Sleep well, Junhui." 

_________________________________

 

 Jihoon's once again, missing Jun. He's getting worried as usual. The latter hasn't skyped him since 7 p.m and he knows how the boy gets lost easily and that's when Jihoon's there with him. He mentioned something about a party earlier and of course Jihoon knew Wonwoo was the one taking him to it. 

He would've protested, **demanded** that he doesn't go to the party but he didn't. Junhui said nothing bad would happen and he believed him. Kind of.

He hasn't told his parents yet but he's already booked a ticket back to Korea in two weeks time. All he has to do is hold on for a little longer and then he would be back with 'his' Junnie. If he finally gets the courage he's going to tell the latter that he loves him. _If_ he gets the courage. 

In all honesty, Jihoon's scared of Wonwoo. Not as in he's scared to breathe the same air as him more so that Wonwoo always gets what he wants and he's more than sure he wants his Junhui. Junhui is an easily led person and that's not to say he's someones shadow because he's definitely not. He tends to rely on people when they show interest in him. He also tends to care too much about the people around him. 

With Wonwoos sudden interest in Junhui, he knows something's not right. Jun's an amazing person with a big heart and to Jihoon he's hilarious but Wonwoo's been nothing but rude when he's talked about his best friend, he even tried hurting him so it doesn't make sense as to why he's being 'nice' to him. 

Jihoon knows about Wonwoo's past. He knows how the latter used at least twenty girls in two weeks then humiliated them. He knows how he treats other people in general. Wonwoo isn't a 'bad boy' in any way. He doesn't wear the typical bad boy clothes and he doesn't have that kind of vibe but he isn't good for Junhui. Junhui deserves someone who's kind and caring and will give him all the love he deserves. Wonwoo's not that person. 

And Wonwoo will never **be** that person. 

__________________________________

"Wonwoo..?" Junhui has woken up to a massive headache, shirtless and in the same bed as Wonwoo. The only thing he remembers from last night was that he went to a party and ended up with a bruised cheek and stomach. Staying in the same bed isn't what's gotten Junhui so freaked out it's the fact that his shirt is off and his cuts are showing. 

A panicky Junhui is _never_ a good Junhui. From all of his quick movements he's woken Wonwoo up, much to his horror. "Good morni─" Junhui can't find his shirt so he runs into the bathroom that's right next to Wonwoos room, locking himself in. This _really_ isn't a **good morning.**

"Please open the door." He can hear Wonwoo's voice echo outside as the knocking gets louder. "No! You've seen them!" Junhui's not a cry baby but he can't help freaking out. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I promise. Please just open the door." Wonwoo's voice becomes desperate as he knows there's razors in that bathroom. Luckily, Junhui can't see them. 

Opening the door, Wonwoo sees the scared kitten on the floor, arms trying to cover himself but ultimately failing. Wonwoo goes into his room to grab a black and white striped long sleeved shirt then returns, giving it to Junhui. He quickly puts the shirt on then allows Wonwoo to take him back to the original room. 

"You have to **swear** you won't tell anyone." Wonwoo nods, linking his pinky finger with Junhuis. "I pinky promise I won't tell anyone, Junhui." 

"You know my name!?" Junhui's eyes grow big whilst his jaw drops. "Um, you may or may not have told me it was your name last night." Wonwoo slaps his own face when his mind lingers back to the night before and how magical Junhui's lips on his felt. _Now is not the time, Wonwoo_. 

"Is that the only thing that happened?" _No, we also kissed and I 'confessed' to you while you were drunk but that was it._ "Yeah, that's the only thing that happened. Your hoodie was off because I had to clean the cuts you got from last night."

 "Thank you...for cleaning them, I mean."  Junhui looks away then puts on his shoes. "I should go." 

"I'll walk you home. You are a lost boy after all." Wonwoo smiles small, grasping a hold of Junhuis hand then dragging him downstairs. _Holy shit there's so many stairs._ It's not that the silent walk home was uncomfortable. Wonwoo could tell Jun was upset with himself. Upset that his cuts were shown, mad because he drank alcohol and traumatized because of yesterdays little 'greet + beat.' 

They said their goodbyes, Junhui leaving to go inside and Wonwoo walking home, feeling guilty. They didn't have school today because of an event and Wonwoo is determined to cheer the blue haired male up. Even if he won't show that he's sad, Wonwoo can somehow see through the disguise. 

As Junhui gets inside, he instantly hears a noise coming from the tablet. He looks and sees it's Jihoon calling him and instead of lying, he might as well tell the truth. "Junnie! How was the part─" 

"Jihoonie, I went looking for Wonwoo last night because he went missing so I went upstairs and his friends were there..." Junhui began. "I didn't break anything! But apparently I'm such a piece of garbage that holding onto a banister resulted in me getting a punch to the face and a blow to the stomach." Junhui tried laughing it off, make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "There was three bottles of alcohol beside me when they left so I drunk all off them and I got drunk? I think. If getting drunk is having a massive headache. Wonwoo let me stay at his house though." 

It's not that Jihoon's disgusted with his best friend, it just feels like Wonwoo is the cause to his unusual behaviour and he hates it. "You've changed, Junhui." Jihoon says coldly, heart shattering a little when he sees Junhui sent into panic mode. "I haven't changed, Jihoonie! I'm still your Junnie. I'm still your best friend. . ." 

" _My_ Junnie wouldn't go to a party and get drunk. _My_ Junnie **wouldn't** be talking to the school's jerk and staying over at his house and most of all _my_ Junnie would want to talk to me rather than always go missing off the face of the planet and then come back, acting like everything's fine." Jihoon knows best that he shouldn't yell at Junhui but he wants his Moonie back and this is _not_ his Moonie. 

"I always want to talk to you! I didn't talk to you for a few days because I didn't want to upset you, Jihoonie! If you would've told me you didn't want me going to the party then I wouldn't have gone. I lo─" before Junhui says the word 'love' he changes it. "─I really care about you, Jihoonie. You're my **best friend**..." Junhui quickly covers his eyes, not wanting to cry. 

"I'm going to go Junhui." 

"Please don't leave, Jihoonie! I promise I'm still your same Junnie." Jihoon exits the call, Junhui feeling even shittier and Jihoon frustrated. 

___________________________________

Junhuis day has been pretty unproductive to say the least. He's just been moping over Jihoon, trying to figure out what's wrong with him but he himself isn't sure. Was anything really wrong with him? 

It's 9:47 p.m and currently, he's wondering if he should starve for tonight or go buy a packet of ramen. It's colder than usual but that's to be expected when it's November.  

He's currently scribbling in his sketchbook until he hears a knock on the door. "Wonwoo?" Junhui sees Wonwoo looking at him with a basket in his hand, grinning from ear to ear. "I thought you needed some cheering up and they say food makes people happy, so...care to join me?" Wonwoo practically has to drag the latter out of his house but he makes no complaints. 

They sit down on a random field, Wonwoo placing the blanket and urging Junhui to sit down. As if he's under a spell, Junhui does as Wonwoo says, staring up at the cloudy, dark sky. "You didn't have to do this, Wonwoo-ah. It's nice of course! I don't think I deserve it, though."  

"True. You deserve to see all the stars but the clouds are blocking them." It's the first time Junhui sees Wonwoo pout and it's almost as cute as Jihoons. Almost. "...I don't like seeing you sad." As if he's on auto mode, Junhui gets rid of all traces of sadness from his face, showcasing his best smile. 

 "I'm fine, Wonwooie. I'm always fine so don't worry." Junhui takes a bite of a vanilla cupcake, frosting getting on his top lip and somehow he doesn't notice it until Wonwoo's coming closer to him, fingers coming into contact with his skin and he freezes. "You had frosting on your lip." Wonwoo laughs and Jun thinks he likes his laugh a lot more than his smile. Junhui _really_ likes his smile. 

"Junnie, you shouldn't have to hide your feelings. I don't know you that well but I know it's not a crime to be sad." Just hearing the words makes him feel bad. He doesn't like it when people try seeing past his smile. He enjoys smiling. It makes everything feel better. Frowning only makes things worse. "It's also not a crime to enjoy life, Wonwooie. I'm not sad, I promise. Jihoonie said I've changed so I guess it just has me questioning things." Junhui feeds the latter a sandwhich, Wonwoo swallowing it in one bite. 

"I don't think you've changed. This is coming from the guy who caught you dancing in circles for no reason." Wonwoo leans in, brushing his lips against the latters. "W-Wonwooie!?" Junhui backs up from the younger, cheeks burning ferociously whilst his heart is pounding out of his chest. "In my hometown we kiss each other to cheer each other up." _Somebody call bullshit. Somebody also save Junhui because of course this poor child believes him._

"That's a weird way of cheering somebody up but thank you." Junhui smiles sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. Is it normal for your heart to be beating this fast? He doesn't think so.

In all honesty, Wonwoo just wanted to kiss him again. 

⏪Play I Smile by DAY6⏩

"Wonwooie! It's snowing!" The pair look around them to see snow falling. The white snowflakes land on Junhuis hair and face, Wonwoo deeming him as even more delicate. "May I have this dance, Mr.Wen?" Wonwoo takes out his phone then presses play on DAY6's song 'I smile.' Junhui agrees, taking his hand then twirling with Wonwoo, laughter being the only thing they can hear. 

The mood of the night takes a romantic turn, though Junhui isn't aware of it. Junhuis silly personality shows fully as he sticks his tongue out to taste the snowflakes. Wonwoo finds it quite endearing, actually.

He laces their fingers together, unable to contain his smile at how well his hand fits with the latters. "Wonwooieee, I really want you to smile more with your friends." Junhui's not used to people constantly changing their expression. You don't need a magnifying glass to see Wonwoo changing his smile into a poker face when he's with his friends. 

"They don't make me smile." He shrugs, playing it off coolly but that doesn't stop Junhui's heart from swelling. "And I do?" 

"I guess you do." He spins Junhui outwards but he slips on the now slightly covered snowy grass, taking Wonwoo down with him. If unfortunate events occurred every day, this was definitely one of them. Wonwoo had no time to put his hands down to put some distance between them so his lips ended up on Junhuis (not that he's complaining.) 

For a few seconds, they both close their eyes, the sweet sensation taking over any rational thoughts Wonwoo had about leaving the olders lips. And this is when Wonwoo realizes ─ he's fucked. He has more than just a ' **crush** ' on the latter. He's beginning to fall in love with him. 

Once he realises what he's doing, he quickly retracts his lips and begins shaking his hands. "Sorry! I─ well─" 

"It's fine, Wonwooie. It's my fault for falling." Although Jun is smiling apologetically, the blush on his face is more than apparent and just looking at him isn't slowing Wonwoos heart down. 

They decide to cut the picnic short when the snow stops falling and they go separate ways, both hearts beating louder than a drum. 

After Wonwoos 'hometown ways' of cheering Junhui up, Junhui's determined to show Jihoon he's still the same Junnie he became best friends with whereas Wonwoo's busy visualizing how adorable the blue-haired male looked in the snow. 

___________________________________

 Days seem awfully long when you're not talking to your best friend. Jihoon and Jun know that best. It also doesn't help that they're a lot closer than normal best friends so going a second without each other is even more agonizing.

It's now Sunday. Jihoon hasn't been online so it's not that he's ignoring Junhui, he's just too upset to leave his bed. 

Jihoon has always loved the latters parodies so Junhui is trying to make a new one, but he's stuck. He already knows the song he'll be singing to but the lyrics well..quite frankly ─ they're a mess. Being an overly creative person sucks. There's too many ideas going on inside your head and you try adding all of them together but they make no sense (not that parodies made sense anyway.) 

It's not even a parody, per se. You know those appreciation blogs on tumblr? It's basically that but in a song and at least the people running those blogs know how to emphasize the importance that said person has on their life. All Jun's got is, 'Jihoon's my home and I can't leave him alone.' Albeit the truth, it seems half-assed to him. And Junhui has a perfectly, full, ass to give...Perceive that in any way you want to. 

His mind can't even concentrate on this 'simple' task because Wonwoos strange way of cheering people up that apparently originated from his hometown is invading his personal thoughts. "Maybe if I look it up..." Maybe the odds are against him but Wonwoo has never _told_ Jun about his hometown, not even the name of it so he can't search for the meaning behind it. 

_I don't think you'd be able to find it anyway, Jun._

So not only is Junhui distracted from his main priority, Wonwoo's coming over soon and God knows what they'll end up talking about considering they talk about _everything_. And I do mean, **everything**. Just not about Wonwoos obvious and hopeless crush on the latter and Junhuis...actually I'm not sure how he feels about Jihoon. 

He's not sure how he feels about Wonwoo either. 

An unusual knock on Juns door causes him to procrastinate (He wasn't going to come up with any good lyrics in the first place if his mind was such a mess) and he gets up, figuring it would be one of his neighbours; though it's unlikely considering they never looked his way once. 

"...Am I dreaming?" In the flesh and blood, is Junhui's mother, holding a bag. "I think you're awake, sweetie." His mother almost mimics his laugh and her eyes are glistening. It's been nearly three years since she's last seen her son. She's missed him. 

It would make sense if Junhui cried right about now, don't you agree? But he doesn't. His family have went through so much and they don't need him breaking down. That's what he says to himself at least.

His mother doesn't need to know how much he was getting bullied or how many times he's nearly froze to death let alone the amount of times he's been treated like a human punching bag. She doesn't need to know the weird feelings he gets whenever Jihoon constantly plays on his mind nor the confusing mystery that is Jeon Wonwoo. She **did** give great advice, though. 

"How are you here!? How's Fengjun and how's dad?" He clings onto his mother like a lost boy, knowing she'd be fine with it. It's been years but yet he still remembers everything about her. The only thing that's changed is her haircut. 

"It took a long time to save up but finally I was able to come see you. The boys wanted to come but we could only afford one ticket and as the woman who's had more mood swings than their tragic 'man flu' moments we decided I'd come see you. 

"How's Jihoon? Is he behaving himself? Have you been eating correctly? I really should try and get you a thicker duvet..." That was one trait both of them shared: Rambling. "Jihoonie's staying in New York for another month and I'm fine, please don't worry." He smiled sincerely, hoping to ease his mothers worries. 

"New York? He left my precious son alone!? I need to have a talk with that boy I swear─"

"You make it sound like I'm some hermit crab who never talks to people!" 

"So you've been making more friends? That's great, Junhui. Ever since Mingming..." Before she could continue Junhui cut her off. "Mom, that doesn't matter anymore. And I made one friend." Junhui hates talking about Mingming and that's why he never does. To some they may think Jun's overreacting but Mingming did so much more than just hurt him. 

He destroyed him. 

 Jun's house is popular today as they hear another knock on the door and he already knows who it is. "Hi, Wonwooie! This is my mom." He allows the younger to step inside and his mother begins analyzing him. She knits her eyebrows together. "So, is he the new friend you were just telling me about, sweetie?" She smiles though the look in her eyes suggests a different kind of feeling. 

"Yes! He's really nice." Junhui grins at Wonwoo, sending his heart weird feelings that causes it to race. "I see. Junhui, would you go to the store and buy some food? I'll cook you your favourite dish!" Like a hyper puppy he agrees, hugging his mother out of gratitude then leaving to buy the ingredients. 

_Well, this is a weird introduction to meet the parents..._

"You have a crush on my son, I presume?" If Wonwoo had water right now, he'd be spitting it out. "No, no. It's not anything like that. He's just a friend." _Okay lying isn't a great start_. "We **may** have different native languages but I can tell whenever someone's lying. Call it a mothers sixth sense if you will." She laughs wholeheartedly but still the look in her eyes is rather intimidating. 

"In my opinion, Jihoon is better for my son. That's nothing against you at all! Jihoon has been Junhuis rock for years, over a decade to be precise. Personally, I think you resemble Mingming a lot. You're not the same but if you _really_ want an honest opinion─" 

"Please give me your honest opinion." Wonwoo pleads with her. "I think you have bad intentions. Junhui is a sweet boy who lets his heart lead his mind so I'm not surprised he's made friends with you. I'm not trying to stereotype or anything but you do look like a school jerk." _To be fair, she ain't wrong._

"Who's Mingming and why is Jihoon so important to Jun?" The two questions spark her interest. "Junhui doesn't enjoy talking about Mingming, rather, he tends to avoid even speaking his name. Mingming used to be his best friend." She paces her words, allowing Wonwoo to absorb the information. 

"When they stopped playing together Junhui still tried to talk to him but he didn't want to. In fact he threw insults at him every time he came near. As a parent do you know how heartbreaking that is? Hopefully you don't. 

"It didn't help that the other kids called him names too. And yet he was **still** smiling. I know my son well enough to tell you they were hurting him, making him upset but he never showed it. This is now where I explain to you why Jihoon is important to my son." 

Wonwoo nodded, a depressing thought has occured to him. Did Junhui ever cry? Why did he have to hide how he was feeling? Maybe that was just who he was, though. 

"Jihoon came to visit Shenzhen for a second time when he was still six. Junhui was ecstatic. It was the first time I saw him filled with energy and excitement since Mingming stopped being his friend. He even brought him home to have dinner with us the same day. 

"I think you could describe them as pen pals at this point. They wrote letters to each other every single day and told each other everything. Jihoon would come visit him every so often and we noticed a massive change in him. 

"Junhui is always a cheery boy and that's the truth. Almost everything makes him happy but Jihoon makes Junhui's whole day better just with a simple hi. Jihoon became his rock, the only constant in his life despite everything that has happened and that is why he's so important to my son." She had now finished her story and Wonwoo was beginning to feel horrible. 

"Wonwoo, one thing I need to warn you about though ─ do **not** hurt my son by using love. My son is **extremely** important to me and I care about him deeply. He isn't clingy and he's not a burden so never use those words with him. He hates to admit it but he loves a lot of things and when he truly loves something, it kills him when he loses it. 

"The fact that my son thinks you're nice is already a huge statement to show that he cares for you. As long as you don't neglect his kindness and take advantage of his big heart, I don't think we'll have any problems." Most of her words sounded threatening but in the long run, it's because she loves her son and she knows he's been put down more times that she can remember. He doesn't deserve any more of that heartache. 

Wonwoo feels like she's taking apart his thoughts one by one, uncovering his secrets such as the bet and that she's trying to make him rethink them. He **knows** he shouldn't have accepted the bet but he did and all that's got him is feelings for the latter. 

"Backkkk!" Junhui storms into the room with a bag if groceries in his hand and a packet of jelly snacks in his mouth. "Great! I'll get started then." It's as if the previous conversation had never happened when a smile makes its way onto her lips. It's quite startling...

________________________________

After eating food together, Wonwoo wore a frown the whole time. He loved the food but with the bet still in mind, he couldn't smile. 

Unfortunately, Junhuis mother had to leave because she needed to get back to China. She exchanged some words with both of the boys as they walked her to the airport and that was that. 

"Wonwoo, are you okay?" This time it seems to be Wonwoo lost in his own thoughts as it takes a tug of the hand to bring him back to reality. "What? Yeah, I'm fine." He says this but his frown doesn't disappear. Instead, it turns into a thin line. 

"You don't look fine..." Wonwoo tries to reply but before he can, a pair of lips meet his and he's already forgotten what he was going to say. His gaze is met with a blushing Junhui but finally a smile has made its way onto his face. "In my hometown we don't do..stuff..like that to cheer someone up but since your hometown does I thought─" 

"Junnie, do you know that in my hometown when that person has finally cheered up they kiss back?" The bet goes to the back of his mind and now the only thing he wants more than anything, is to feel Juns lips against his. "T-they do?" Stuttering Junhui is _too cute_ as Wonwoo grabs his waist, pulling him closer. "They do..." Even Wonwoo is beginning to feel flustered. 

"B-but wouldn't that mean you'd be my first kiss if we b-both kiss?" Junhui uses his sweater paws to hide his face. _I_ _mean you already had your first kiss when you were drunk you just can't remember._ "I'll be gentle with you." With one of Wonwoos toothy smiles he feels trapped, like he's sticking to the wall like glue.

"I thought there was only a gentle way to kiss someone in the first place." Juns eyes grow wide and Wonwoo can't help but laugh at the innocence. "You're too innocent, Junnie." He doesn't know whether to feel happy that Wonwoo's smiling or that he should be scared for his life. _I'd say the second one, Jun._

No questions can be asked once Wonwoo holds his hands, closing his eyes and then pressing his slightly chapped lips against the latters. Junhui kisses back shyly, unsure of what he should do next. "Wonwooie..." as they pull apart Junhuis hazy eyes take in Wonwoos features. His black hair is curly, pale cheeks now red, eyes crinkling from the wide grin on his face. "I'm really glad you're happy now." His eyes turn into crescents and his lips curve into a smile when he hears Wonwoo say, "You make me happy, Junnie." 

"And you would make me even happier if you accept the plushies I wanted to give you ages ago." Granting Wonwoos wish, he agrees. "Deal! Only because you look better when you smile." 

_______________________________

After seeing his mother and knowing she's alive and well (She also told him that the man from the forrest was doing fine) he's feeling much more motivated to win his best friend back. 

Jihoon and Wonwoo have a lot of similarities. They're able to make him genuinely smile and laugh. They both give him weird feelings in his stomach. They both try to hold his hand whenever he's not looking and they both like saying bad jokes. They also have differences. 

Jihoons cuddles are nice and warm whereas Wonwoos hugs are rather cold. Wonwoos personality constantly changes however Jihoons remains the same. 

Currently, he's sitting on his own in English. A lot of Wonwoos friends are in the room (he can hear them talking about him, some even throwing paper balls at him but he tries not to pay attention to them.)

It took hours of hard work but finally he's finished the song for his Jihoon. He **has** to forgive him once he sees just how much he thinks of him. Since he has nothing to do he's decided to write a letter to Wonwoo (mostly to appreciate him because it doesn't seem like his friends know the side he's seen.) But also because he's finished his work and he needs to drown out all of the voices that are talking about him. 

Wonwoos friends are having controversial views about Junhui. Seungkwan, Soonyoung, Hansol, Chan and Jisoo like the new change in Wonwoo because if Wonwoo can convince him he's not a bad person then he'd most likely want to get to know them. The others such as Minghao, Jeonghan and Mingyu hate the new change. They miss the Wonwoo who wouldn't mind punching a few guys if they messed with him. 

 Although the bet _was_ initially Minghaos idea he's not exactly **thrilled** Wonwoo's associating himself with the epitome of 'trash.' He believes the blue haired male is just a nuisance to the world and that's cutting it fine when he hasn't tried to know the latter. Why talk to someone who can't give you any opportunities? That's his mindset and he's always been that way. It wasn't fair to Jun though. 

He's never personally attacked one of Minghaos friends, not even him himself and maybe that's why he has such a problem with Jun. He can't understand how someone can be so **good**. Call it a lifetime of mistakes but not one of the people he's met have been truly pure, kind-hearted and so protective over their friends. Junhui was all of that and more. 

_______________________________

The rest of the day goes by quickly. Wonwoo and Jun somehow found it interesting to talk about bees and how they pee so they talked about that the whole time. It's a weird topic but Wonwoo loved it more than the usual chats he would have with his friends. 

"Wonwooie! I wrote you a letter." Junhui grins, placing the letter in his hands. Ever since those 'cheer up' kisses they shared yesterday, every little thing Jun does squeezes Wonwoos heart and he's decided he enjoys the sensation. 

"Is this like harry potter?" Wonwoo chuckles, gaining a playful punch from the latter. "Noooo! I'd give you the Nimbus 2000 instead. Hey! Don't open it yettt. You need to open it later otherwise it's embarrassing." Junhui covers his eyes, more laughs escaping from Wonwoos lips. "Is it a love note?" He teased. "I don't fall in love, Wonwooie. Less painful that way. You'll find out laterrr." The smile on his face no longer is a real one but Wonwoo's having a hard time deciphering the two. 

"Is love really that painful though?" He enquired, hoping he could change the latters mind. "Do you love someone, Wonwooie? Sometimes I'd like to say I do but I never end up telling. Maybe I'm cursed like Davy Jones' locker. Born to never love." He laughs, the sound filling up the silence but the sadness in it overwhelming Wonwoo. 

"I think I **do** love someone. I don't know how I ended up in love with them but it feels like I'm flying." As if it's on command, Wonwoo holds the latters hand, pulling him closer to his side. In return he can hear sweet giggles by his ear, Junhui clumsily lacing their fingers together. "I've never been flying. I hope you get to be with them soon though,Wonwooie! I could be the best man at your wedding." He nudges the younger with his shoulder, oblivious to who Wonwoo was talking about. 

"I don't want you to be the best man..." _I want you to be the one I'm marrying instead_. "That's so mean! I'll be the minister then. I'll get a licence just to be at the wedding." Wiggling his eyebrows, the look of determination in his eyes saddens Wonwoo. How can be so oblivious? "Nope," he replies. 

"Wonwooie, why don't you want me at your wedding? I mean I **know** it's not legal to get married in Korea yet but at least invite me! I gave you my jelly snacks." He whines, lips making a pout (Wonwoo found it irresistibly adorable.) "Maybe I want **you** to be the one walking down the isle with me. You'd look cute in a dress." Wonwoo smirks but the ever so annoying butterflies aren't willing to settle down and Junhuis cheeks are burning up. 

"I wouldn't be wearing a dress! I'm manly, Wonwoo. You only marry the people you love, anyway." He puffs out his chest to show his manliness, the latter copying his actions. "And if I love you? Would it be fine if I married you then?" Who ever said romance was dead? There's nothing that says romance like a half-assed confession on a sidewalk. 

The painfully awkward silence is disrupted by Junhuis reply, "You don't love me so I don't think it's right. You'd probably divorce me after one day." Junhui lets out a hearty chuckle yet at the back of his mind he's wondering whether Wonwoo is serious about being in love with him and he's curious as to why he even considered marrying him as a possibility in it the first place. 

If he was going to marry anyone it would most likely be Jihoon. Or would it? 

"Who would divorce such a pretty face?" Wonwoo gasps, trying to make the mood lighter. "Wow, you'd only marry me for my looks? I am _appalled_ , Jeon Wonwoo." He plays along, making an equally over exaggerated expression. "I'd marry you for a million reasons, Jeon Junhui." He grins as he watches the latter cover his face. 

The only time he removes his hands is when he's tripped over a crack in the pavement, Wonwoo saving him from face planting the ground. "Crap...Junnie I'll come back soon I need to bring your plushies over." Without another word he runs down the street. 

"Such a terrible husband." Junhui giggles, walking inside of his bungalow. 

The first thing he does is reread over the lyrics he's made for Jihoon. They might not be worth a music award but they still mean a lot to him. 

Thankfully he's charged the tablet so he's going to spam the crap out of Jihoon until he responds. Which doesn't actually take that long, he answers after the third call. "Jihoonie! I know you're still upset with me but I swear I haven't changed and I'll show you that I haven't." Junhuis smile is big and genuine that Jihoon thinks he's going to combust.

"Junnie I just said that because I was mad─"

"I still made you a song Jihoonie and I'm going to sing it for you!" He says proudly, beginning to sing his lyrics to the tune of closer by the Chain Smokers. _"Hey, I was doing really bad until I met you, you spun my world around so much that it's hard to let you down, down. Hey! We don't have friends but it's not an issue because I'll always be your tissue when you're not okay~"_

"Tissue? You're going to allow me to get snot all over you?" For the first time in a few days Jihoon's finally smiling and that means the world to Junhui. "Shhh! I'm not done, Jihoonie." 

" _I'll never let anyone break your heart, even if we're thousands miles apart, together for ten years and that ain't even the best part yeah because you're really awesome and I think you're smart!"_

 _"So Jihoon pull me closer under all of the bed covers, when you try to hold my hand or you just need a shoulder, to cry on when you're sad or when you're happy just know that I'll always be there 'cause you'll aways be my home..ie!"_ Finishing the song, both males are smiling from ear to ear. "Drop the beat!" Apparently drop the beat to them is head banging but oh well. 

 Aish, you really are still a dork." Jihoon comments, Junhuis face lighting up at the backhanded compliment. "Yup! I'm your dork, Jihoonie. Always will be. You're coming home soon, right?" Junhui resembles a cat but that doesn't mean he can't get hyper like a puppy whenever he pictures Jihoon coming back to Korea. 

"In three more weeks I'll be back so you better prepare for that bear hug." Jihoon snickers, knowing he has a surprise for Junhui but he won't know. It's like having a secret. Nobody knows about it except you. "Lee Jihoon is no longer a tsundere? What is this? Am I living in an alternative universe?" 

"Very funny. I thought you'd want a hug but I guess not." 

"Noooo! I do, I do! You gave me a lee-coupon that says I'm allowed one hug per day! That means you owe me sixty-one hugs." He points his finger, passing the blame onto Jihoon. "Fine Junnie. Sixty one hugs it is then." 

"Sixty one hugs? Isn't that a lot, Jun?" He turns his head to see Wonwoo in his bedroom (he already knew the latter would be in his house so he didn't knock) and Jihoon's already irritated again. "Ah...Hi, Wonwoo. I was just talking to Jihoonie."

Wonwoo _could_ take the easy way out and just leave but he doesn't. Instead, he sits on the latters bed, placing an arm around him, directly looking at Jihoon. "Could you maybe get the fuck off of my best friend? Why are you even in his house?" Knowing he's annoyed, Junhui tries his best to remove Wonwoos arm. 

"Wonwooie, could you please leave? I think it's better if we all just calm down." He repeats his words twice, neither of them listening. "I don't see why it's any of your business, Jihoon. I've been to his house more than once." 

"Well you're clearly not wanted now so go back to your own house, Wonwoo." He grits his teeth and Wonwoo takes the tablet from Junhui, despite his pleas to give it back. _"I'm_ not wanted? You won't tell your 'best friend' that you're in love with him because you're scared he won't want you." 

"What about you then, Wonwoo? If you think you know me so well how about you? Why are you even _talking_ to him? You're obviously using him for something so why don't you confess and say what you're really up to?" If Jihoon could yell any louder his parents would be running to him straight away. 

"Please stop! Jihoonie would tell me that and Wonwoo is nice! Why can't we all just be friends?" Once again his pleas go unnoticed. "I'm not using him for anything and I'm sorry that your best friend likes hanging out with me more than you but you don't need to have a fit over it." 

"He doesn't like hanging out with you more. Your dumb fucking friends caused him so much shit he's just too nice to put you in the same category as them! You're worse than them! You got him drunk, let him get beat up and now you're blatantly using him. But of course, you're such a **great** friend aren't you?" Jihoon spits, his parents now entering the room. 

"I'm a better one than you are. Aren't you the one who's been making him upset this whole time? You've left him alone for two months so obviously I'm going to be his friend. I'm not a monster, unlike you." Wonwoo smirks, waving to Jihoons parents. "My son isn't a monster! How **dare** you speak to someone so ill mannerly. Your parents should be ashamed." His mother scolds the brunette. 

Wonwoo, however, doesn't care for her words. "Fortunately Miss, my parents don't care. And unlike **your** **family** , Junhui doesn't have his with him. And yet you don't think he's a monster? That's a pretty cold thing to do to if you ask me. You don't leave your best friend on their own when they have no one." 

"Stop!!!" Junhui screams, causing everyone to go silent. "Wonwoo, please leave. _Please_..." The frown that's etched on his face isn't disappearing and Wonwoos heart feels like it's breaking piece by piece the longer he looks at it. "Why are you taking his side? He's treated you like crap this whole time, Junhui." Wonwoo feels offended. "I'm not taking anyone's side. Please just end the call and leave for a while." Sighing, he ends the call and leaves the house, slamming the door shut. 

_______________________________

"You lied to us, **Lee Jihoon.** You said Junhui had many friends and why aren't his parents with him? We haven't seen them in years, right honey?" She nudges her husband, hoping he was paying attention. "We've never been to their house either...we've only seen them on picnics." He adds on, both eyeing Jihoon. 

"He didn't want you to know." He replies in a small voice. "Didn't want us to know what?" 

"Juns parents and his brother don't live with him because they can't afford it. Jun wouldn't be in my school if he hadn't got a scholarship and that's why people don't like him. Nobody else has a scholarship and since he comes from China they bully him. He didn't want you to know because he was scared you wouldn't like him anymore!" 

For ten years he's never told his parents about Junhuis situation but now it's out and he doesn't know wether to feel relieved or guilty for betraying his best friend. "Of course we love him! That wouldn't change." She states, raising her voice slightly. "People judge him for his situation so you can't blame him for wanting to hide it, sweetie. He must just care about us that he didn't want us to change our opinion about him." His father smiles small, trying to be more understanding. 

"Jihoon! Pack your bags. You're going home tomorrow." She claps her hands, a confused Jihoon looking her way. _"I am_? Are you like throwing me out..?" 

"No. You're going home to see your husband and you're going to **prove** that Wonwoo boy wrong by showing him you **aren't** a monster and that he can't steal your man! I can get you a ticket easily so go get packed." She pushes her son into the next room. "He's not my husband! And how would Wonwoo steal him from me?" He questions. "I swear you're as blind as a bat. Wonwoo has a crush on him! It's as clear as day why else would he start insulting you?" His parents nod in unison. 

"Wonwoo is a jerk to everyone. Simple." 

"Do you want to see Junhui or not?" 

"...Yes" 

"Then go pack!" 

"Yes ma'am." Marching off his parents flop down on the couch. "Kids are so difficult these days." She says, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Anything to keep the Junhoon ship sailing, right?" 

"This is why I married you." 

_____________________________

Wonwoo has went home and currently he's gone to his last option for advice and that is: his parents. "What do you do if you really like someone but he's not in the same social class as you?" He asks, his parents turning around to face him. "If they're not in the same class you shouldn't bother with them." His father simply states, his mother agreeing in silence. "That's really _great_ advice, dad. Your one minded ways haven't changed have they?" He rolls his eyes, staring at the unopened letter in his hand. 

"You never listen to what we say anyway." He replies in monotone. "I would if you didn't give such bad advice." Tuning out his parents he opens the letter, reading it word for word. 

_' To: Miserable Jeon (a.k.a Happy Jeon)_

_Lately you've been making me smile so so much! (☆^ー^☆) and I wanted to make you smile too!!!!!                     o(〃＾▽＾〃)o  You need to appreciate yourself more. You're amazing at a lot of things that  you don't need to have your parents pay the teachers to make your grade high. I guess I'm a weirdo for writing this but your friends need to tell you how brilliant you are! (╥_╥) You're funny, kind, weird but that's cool because I'm weird too, awesome, smart and your penmanship is so much better than mine. The person you love would be so lucky to be with you! As long as you aren't a jerk to them but I think you aren't a jerk anymore. You're great once you let your guard down!  The cold exterior you put up is kinda sad but I can understand why you'd want to hide your sweet side! I wonder if I'm the only one who's seen it??? <(￣︶￣)> keep smiling, miserable jeon! I bet the one you love would want t see you smiling._

_-From Captain Wen'_

 

As he finishes reading the letter he wonders how Wen Junhui could be real. And if he is real then he must be an angel. He doesn't say goodbye to his parents as he runs to the nearest store, buying a pokémon magic eight ball and an 'I'm sorry' cupcake then sprinting to the olders house. _Ah, love. It makes you do strange things._

Despite being so unathletic he makes it to the latters house in record time. (Record time being an hour and twenty two minutes.) This time he knocks on the door, his vision being met with Junhui wearing a massively oversized tokyo ghoul hoodie, bright white pyjama bottoms (the ends tucked into his fluffy socks) and harry potter glasses.

"Holy shit you look adorable." Since Wonwoo has good luck his thoughts end up being said aloud, Junhuis glasses steaming up and his cheeks now turning a rosy pink. "You look...sweaty." Junhui giggles, fidgeting with his flappy sleeves. "This is for you. I'm really sorry for messing up your video call and for taking the tablet and just hurting you in general. I'm an idiot..."

 He gives over the gifts, Junhui speaking into the ball. "Oh great magic eightball that beholds the power of catching Pokémon, shall I forgive Wonwooie?" He shows the screen that says 'never' and Wonwoos soul has left him. "They always say to never trust a pokémon ball." Just as Wonwoo is about to leave Jun back hugs him, Wonwoo holding his hands. "I forgive you, Wonwooie. I think you and Jihoonie don't really like each other though..." 

They don't like each other for many reasons, the main one being Jun himself so Wonwoo agrees, turning around to face Junhui, swiping his bangs to the side. "I read your note, by the way." His eyes twinkle and Wonwoo thinks he's so much more beautiful than any star in the sky. "Did you like it?" He replies, excitement in his voice. "Yep. I think I like the person who wrote it more than the letter itself, though." He smiles, resting his forehead against Junhuis. 

"Noooo! Is it because my handwriting is bad? It's horrible I know." He groans, lips once again pouting. "Of course. But really, thank you. It means a lot. I guess I should go now."

"Wait! Do you want to study together tomorrow? Considering we have exams soon." Quality time with Junhui? Of course he's not going to pass up an offer like that. "Sure." They wave eachother goodbye, Wonwoo wishing he could hold the latter just for another minute but ultimately giving up on the idea. 

_________________________________

The next day goes by fast and soon the two boys are currently studying for maths. Yes, maths. The subject that we **all** know and love. Totally. Wonwoo was motivated by Junhuis letter to try harder in subjects ─ to earn the grades he gets. But a Junhui in a Pikachu onesie is just too adorable and distracting that Wonwoo isn't paying attention to the equation. 

"Do you need help, Dr. Jeon?" His mind travels back to that night of the party and how the latter called him Dr.Jeon. But he couldn't possibly remember that...Right? He never brought it up so of course he doesn't remember. "Dr. Jeon? What's up with the new nickname?" 

"I don't know...At the party I called you Dr. Jeon and I told you about the story of the two princes." _Phew_ he doesn't remember Wonwoo kissing him not because he needed 'cheering' up but because he has feelings for him. _What a relief._

"I came up with an ending for the story by the way. The writer in me just couldn't keep the story unfinished." With this comment, Junhui jumps over the books to sit beside Wonwoo, anticipating for his weekly story time slot. "Tell meeee! I can draw the characters. Like manga!" He reaches for his notepad. 

As if he belongs there, Wonwoo pulls Junhui closer to him, arm around his waist whilst Jun snuggles into the warm coat of his, head leaning against his chest. Wonwoo said friends do that sort of thing and of course Junhui being Jihoons best friend has done the same thing before so he doesn't assume anything. The only difference in their moderately 'friends' relationship is that Wonwoo's kissed him like..five times. 

"Okay. Well I told you about the underdog, correct?" He nods profusely. "The underdog finally confesses to the People's Prince after they've spent time together. In the heat of the moment, scared of rejection and scared of possibly losing the Peoples Prince, he tells the Prince why he loves him.

"Well why does he love him, Wonwooie?" He looks down at Junhui, eyes full of innocence and a smile filled with content. Has he mentioned how much he loves his smile? Probably. "You can't laugh! No matter how much of a cliché it is, okay?" Junhui giggles in his arms, wrapping his pinkie around the latters before returning back to drawing, "Yes, Mr. Jeon. I'll be on my best behaviour!" Although it's innocent to Junhui, Wonwoos mind is in a whole other world. A mind filled with impure thoughts. 

He breathes out heavily, closing his eyes to imagine the scenario. "He loves that the Peoples Prince is funny, kind, witty, different, I suppose. He's never met anyone like him so it's hard to call him a cliché but he loves him nonetheless. Maybe he's a coward but the said male makes him happier than anyone else can. Do you think he loves the underdog back, Junnie?" You _could_ say Wonwoo is pushing it but it's not like Jun knows anyway. 

"I'm not an expert in love or anything but I think...I think he loves him too, Wonwooie." Wonwoo opens his eyes to see an overly hyper Junhui giddily drawing the characters like a little kid. "What about the Prince of Music?" 

"I don't know...I want the Prince of Music to be happy and it seems like he makes the Peoples Prince extremely happy and I think he **might** fall in love with the Prince of Music but it sounds like the underdog hasn't done anything to hurt him so why should he be scared of letting himself love the underdog?" Junhui ponders. 

"It's a story, Junnie. And the best thing about stories are, you can always change the ending. In my ending, the Peoples Prince and the underdog end up together and the underdog vows to make the Peoples Prince the happiest he's ever been." Wonwoo pulls down Junhuis hood, laughing once the latter makes a sour expression. 

"I kind of relate to the People's Prince! Of course he's not real but he's terrified of falling in love and so am I. Not terrified just..I dunno." Junhui snuggles further into the latters coat, putting down his notepad. "What kind of love do you want, Wonwooie?" 

"I'm not sure. What about you?" He asks, already knowing the answer. "I want a love that doesn't hurt. A love that doesn't sting every time something goes wrong. Just a love where I'm not scared of things falling apart." Wonwoo feels a lot warmer to him now, cuddlier the further he cuddles into him. 

"I could give you a love like that." He hears Wonwoo say. "I'd like that, Wonwooie. But you're in love with someone that's not me and that's what hurts the most because as much as I want to deny it, I think I love you." Junhui bites his bottom lip, saying the words so quietly and in a mumble that only Wonwoo can make out the first part. He thinks he's misheard him though. 

______________________________

Jihoon is almost screaming with joy as his plane lands, knowing Junhui would be in school which gives him the **perfect** opportunity to surprise him. The only problem is...

How the hell is he supposed to surprise him? Does he just **show up** at school and act like, "Hey, I'm home." Or should he wait until the latter gets home and surprise him then? But being another minute without him sounds even more painful when he knows he's so close. 

Luckily, Jihoon actually decided to buy souvenirs way before he was thrown on a plane by his own mother; the small trinkets and snow globes were just too tempting to leave alone so he ended up buying ten or more of them. 

Junhui should be in school right now so instead of chucking his suitcase into his actual house, he call a taxi, asking him to take him to Junhuis house. 

Once he gets there he places the suitcase in his room but remembers ─ his school uniform is at his house. "Ha..Ha..kill me, please." He currently hates himself but trudges all the way to his house, unlocking the door then hastily putting on his uniform, grabbing his schoolbag and taking some of his trinkets to show Junhui. 

You know what else is a problem? Jihoon has jetlag. The word **tired** can't even compare to his fatigue but the excitement over seeing his Junnie is enough to keep him going. 

It's nearing lunch time and thankfully he bought a sandwich at the airport, making starvation no problem. He's made it to school by taxi (again) and of course the security guard needs to see his ID and once he shows it, he's allowed to enter the school.

Forget munching down that meatball sub. He makes his way outside to the lunch area, searching for his Junnie. He can see Wonwoo and his friends sitting at the usual round table but none of them have seemed to have noticed him. ' _Good_.' He thinks to himself. He **really** doesn't like Wonwoo. 

You might be wondering why Wonwoo isn't sitting by Junhui, right? Well, his friends were complaining about how he never texts them and practically forced him to sit beside them. Junhui didn't mind though. All he wanted was his home back and here he was, two weeks earlier than the said return date though he can't see him yet. 

"JIHOONIE!" Wonwoo and his friends heads snap at the loud scream. He looks over to where Junhui is running and his jaw drops as soon as he sees Jihoon spinning Jun around in circles before both of them fall onto each other. 

"You're back early! Is this real? Are _you_ real? This is the real Jihoon, right? Not some possessed creature who's taken over his body?" Junhui bombards him with questions, a smile plastered on Jihoons face as he looks at the latters 'mind blown' facial expression. "I'm real, Junnie. They allowed me to come home earlier." Wonwoo hears him reply and an ugly thought resonates in his mind, ' _They should've kept him in New York_.' 

"I missed you so much Jihoonie! Never leave againnn." Junhui mewls, burying his face in Jihoons chest. Jealousy starts to build up inside of Wonwoo. "I promise. I'd never leave my home again." He replies, running his fingers through the blue haired males hair whilst everyone else is looking at them. "It _is_ a pretty fancy house." Junhui laughs, the sound much more fulfilling in real life than it is over skype. 

"I'm not talking about my actual house, idiot. I'm talking about you." Although he's laughing, a blush is dusted over his cheeks. "You're my home too, Jihoonie." The smile never leaves his face and they both stand up, Jihoon holding Junhuis hand then walking past a jealous Wonwoo. 

"Looks like Romeo came back for his Juliet." Minghao comments, earning the death stare from Wonwoo. "They would be so cute together! Junhoon is a cute ship name." Soonyoung chimes in, Chan nodding. "No it's not it's a **horrible** ship name." Wonwoo retorts, more jealousy bubbling up inside of him as he sees Jihoon intertwine his fingers with Juns whilst Junhui is laughing at whatever Jihoon's saying. He could make Jun laugh like that. 

"Are you jealous, Wonwoo? I thought all he was to you was a bet." Seungkwan states, knowing fine well that Wonwoo is in fact jealous. "I'm not jealous at all. It's just a bet. The point was to make him fall for me so I can get the book I want. There's no feelings there." What Wonwoo doesn't know is, Minghao is silently recording him. 

If he thought he was going to get that book so easily, he was wrong. 

He gazes over his shoulder once more to see Junhuis upper body lying on Jihoons lap, poking the latters smile whereas Jihoon is stroking his hair, trying to keep an overly hyper Junhui intact because Wonwoo knows best that if Junhui is too hyper, he will probably fall on his face or scrape his knee from running around too much. "There's definitely no feelings there. I wouldn't go for someone who has that kind of background." Wonwoo assures himself over and over, filling his head with lies. "Jeon Wonwoo _really_ doesn't do feelings then." Jisoo joins in on the conversation. "Yep. He doesn't do feelings. Heart of stone," Wonwoo replies. 

_____________________________

Despite Jihoons complaints, they went to art class. Wonwoo tried sitting beside Junhui but Jihoon stole the seat so now he's sitting behind them. "Junnnniiieee~" He hears Jihoon call out the latters name. "Jihoooniiieee~" Junhui turns to look at him but ends up having blue paint brushed on his face. "That's mean!" He gets his revenge by drawing orange whiskers on the youngers face. 

The teacher leaves the room, allowing the pair to paint over each others faces and hands. The pair pressed each others hands together to make a rainbow then Jihoon tackled the latter to the floor, pressing his palm against his cheek. "The teacher's going to be mad at us, Jihoonie." Junhui whispers while everyone around them are judging their usual antics. 

 "Who cares? Also, is it okay if I stay at your house?" Jihoon asks and if Wonwoo wasn't pissed then he's definitely pissed off now. "Of course! We can binge watch the second season of tokyo ghoul." The pair get up then sit on their chairs acting as if nothing had happened. 

"You're gonna cry your eyes out. You know that, right?" Jihoon says. "I don't cry! You're the one who cried when Rize said, 'Rather than a person who hurts people, become the person getting hurt.'" 

The quote was Junhui in a sentence, basically. Rather than telling his family or Jihoon how much he's been suffering he keeps it inside, keeping the ugly emotions at bay. His life was considerably better now but the horrible thoughts he has about cutting keep pestering him. It really **does** become an addiction. 

"It's a great quote!" He defends himself and then has to defend himself once more when the teacher comes back and wonders how the fantastic duo got paint all over their face. "There's a ghost in the school, Miss." Jihoon states, Junhui going along with it. "Go get cleaned up, you two." Jihoon happily takes hold of Junhuis rainbow hand, Junhui laughing at the weird, wet sensation once their hands touch and they leave the room. 

"May I go to the bathroom?" Wonwoo asks as soon as they leave the room. He's not a stalker. Just...Yeah I don't know what to call him. "Of course." He runs out of the classroom, finding the bathroom and listening in to their conversation. 

"What if there's really a ghost in that classroom, Jihoon? Oh my soul we're going to die aren't we?" He hears Junhui say and a small smile makes it way onto Wonwoos lips. "Ghosts don't exist, Junnie. By the way, why did Wonwoo leave you on your own if he's such a ' _great_ ' friend?" Wonwoo grits his teeth, praying that Junhui will defend him. "He didn't mean to it's just that his friends wanted to spend time with him. He's nice, Jihoonie. I think you'd two get along if you both tried!"

Wonwoo can picture his innocent smile and his eyes crinkling to show that he genuinely wants the pair to be friends. "He's so nice that he decided to steal the tablet just to call me a monster, right? He's **real** nice. First he tries to steal my best friend and then he insults me." Jihoon says, disgust evident. "Nobody can steal me from you, Jihoonie. You're my best friend! He's really nice to me, though...He can be cold but he can be sweet too!" Junhui says it innocently, not knowing the affect his words have on his heart. 

"Of course he's going to be sweet to you he has a crush on you." _Oh shit he knows. Is it that obvious? No, it can't_ _be_. "No he doesn't, Jihoonie. He told me he loves someone and that's not me. I'm just going to be a forever alone." He laughs at his own comment, Wonwoo deciding he should leave in a minute. "He's an ass and I swear to God if I find another bruise on you because of him I'm going to beat the sh─"

"Jihooooonnieee~ Doesn't a certain pink haired male owe me a hug?"

"Sixty-One to be exact, Moonie." Wonwoo decides he's heard enough and imagining the pair hugging makes him feel sick. So he walks away. 

_______________________________

Wonwoo hasn't talked to the blue haired male since lunch and to be truthful, he misses him. Why did Jihoon have to come back and ruin everything? He was going to confess to Jun that he loves him properly and not through a story and now with Jihoon watching him like a hawk, he can't even talk to the latter. 

He's walking home with Soonyoung, Seungkwan and Seungcheol at the moment, mind somewhere in the clouds. He saw Junhui walking home with Jihoon which soured his mood immensely. He couldn't even say goodbye to him. 

"Are you still moping over Jun? Come on, Wonwoo. If you want to win the bet then you're going to have to show him you're not going to let Jihoon get in the way of your 'love' for him." Seungcheol pats his back, zero sympathy in the action. "This bet is dumb." He replies back, shoulders slouching. "Minghao is serious though. He'll make you sit on your own like a loner and have everyone throw insults at you. You're _**Jeon Wonwoo!**_ Why would you want that to happen?" 

"I don't **want** that to happen. But if you haven't noticed I can't get close enough to him." Wonwoo whines, Soonyoung punching his back. "Then try harder!" 

________________________________

Wonwoo doesn't know how or when he got to Jun's house but he's there and it's late at night and if his mind would've listened he wouldn't be knocking on his door right now as a sweaty mess, heart racing and palms clammy just waiting for him to answer. 

"Wonwooie?" Junhui answers the door, laughing and out of breath with cheeks flushed. He's wearing an oversized pink shirt, black boxers that look more like shorts and high knee socks. He's also wearing those same round glasses. "Um..hi. I don't really know why I'm here but I am and─"

"─You're a lost boy like me! Going to wherever your feet take you." He shows off his biggest smile, Wonwoos heart tightening at the sight. "You look tired, Wonwooie...I can get you some water if you want." The kind gesture warms his heart until he sees a pair of arms wrap around the latters waist, forcing giggles out of him. "Junnnieee~ Come back or do I need to get my revenge out here?" He gulps. "All I did was tickle you! Wonwoo needs some water. I'll be back in a second!" Junhui goes back inside, getting water for him. 

"Why did you come here?" Jihoon growls, sending daggers Wonwoos way. "You're not his _only_ friend, Jihoon. Can I just say you wrapping your arms around his waist is 'totally' a thing friends do. You must be really happy that Junnie's so oblivious, right?" He lets out an exasperated sigh. 

"Only I get to call him that. He's **my** best friend. For all I know you could be using him right now." Jihoon replies bluntly. "I'm not using him." 

"Here's some water." Junhui comes back, giving the glass of water to Wonwoo. "Thank you, Junnie." He drinks the water, giving the cup back. 

"Wonwooie! You should watch Tokyo Ghoul with us. It'll be fun and you two could be friends!" As much as they want to outright refuse Junhuis proposal, his cute, gummy smile and crescent eyes act as a gravitational pull, railing the two in.

Junhuis smile is a **dangerous weapon,** even if he doesn't know it. "Whatever." Jihoon grunts, making his way to Junhuis bed. 

Thankfully all of then are pretty small so they all fit. Jun's in the middle and the other two are on each side of him. 

"We have school tomorrow...Eh, sleep is for the weak anyhow!" His smile gleams as he starts kicking his feet about under the thin duvet. His head is leaning on Jihoons shoulder while his lanky legs are tangled with Wonwoos. (By accident. His legs are stuck under the blanket and Wonwoo said it was fine.) 

"Let's watch it now!" They all nod in agreement and so it began, four hours of pure torture, happiness and heartache and I'm only talking about the anime. 

Jihoon's cried four times, Jun cuddling him, telling him to cheer up. Wonwoo let a tear or two fall, Junhui also comforting him but Jun cried zero tears. Just that fact alone made Wonwoo burst into tears but he blamed it on the episode where they learned about Rei's past. 

 Nearing the eleventh episode, Jun has fallen asleep. Arms are around Jihoon, nose touching his neck and drool wetting his lips causing Jihoon to squirm every time his lips make contact with the youngers bare neck. (Not on purpose, obviously. Junhui just moves a lot in his sleep.) 

Wonwoo's not bitter. Of course not! He's totally not jealous that Junhui legs naturally untangled themselves from Wonwoo and that his legs are now slung up over Jihoons waist. _Honest_. 

"He must be tired." Wonwoo says, distracting himself with the screen rather than looking at the sleeping kitten clinging to Jihoon. "He falls asleep easily. Wonwoo?" Jihoon asks. "Look, Jihoon I know we don't like eachother and─" 

"Can you shut up for a minute? Yeah we don't like each other that's a no-brainer, Sherlock. As much as I don't like you, Jun obviously cares about you a lot and you haven't hurt him other than that shit at the party so, I'll tolerate you. For Junhui." Wonwoo looks over to see Jihoon fixing Juns messy hair, a content smile on his face. 

"Oh." 

"Oh? Is that really all you have to say?" Jihoon rolls his eyes. "Sorry, I'm just...surprised? But like...wow. Thanks, I think. You must care about him a lot then." Wonwoo pauses the video. "I care about him more than anything, Wonwoo. So you better promise me you aren't using him or I **will** beat the living shit out of you." His gaze is intense and scary but Wonwoo knows it's because he cares about his best friend. "I'm not using him. I really like him." What sucks is that he's lying about not using the latter, but he can't exactly say he has a bet to make Jun fall in love with him to win a **book** now can he? 

"Like him as in a crush sort of way or as a friend way?" Okay, Wonwoo. If you want Jihoon to believe you aren't using his best friend then you're going to have to say at least some truth. "...I _really_ like him." Great start. 

"Well I love him, Wonwoo. I love him so much that it hurts not being with him. I'm just saying, if you really like him then you better be extremely good to him otherwise I'm going to take my chances." He states honestly. "Take your chances meaning you'll make a move on him?" _Ha...Ha..Did the walls just become thinner or is the feeling of Wonwoo being crushed by walls jealousy?_

"That's disgusting, no. People who make moves on someone they love are sleazy." _Well shit._ "I should go." Even though it's late and the **polite** thing to do would be allow him to stay but Jihoon agrees, allowing Wonwoo to go back home. 

______________________________

The next few days are great. Jihoon and Wonwoo are getting along, no one has came near Junhui to hurt him and even Seungkwan has started talking to them more. Things are **perfect**. But all good things have to come to an end at some point. 

For starters: Junhui was in a class without Wonwoo or Jihoon and once the teacher left, they started throwing insults at him, some even hurting him. Not that it mattered anyway. It just meant that school started off pretty crappy. 

Then, after another class a few people tripped him up, causing him to fall and you do not know how painful it is to bang your forehead on the concrete floor. It's not so much unusual, the bad thoughts are starting to get louder again which is what's scaring him. 

That's how his week of hell starts. It starts with **kicks** , **punches** and **words**. 

Junhui keeps quiet about it though. He starts withdrawing himself from several classes and Jihoon albeit he's ecstatic because it's quality alone time with 'his' Junnie he's starting to wonder why his best friend isn't going to his classes. 

The next day isn't as bad because he's with Jihoon and Wonwoo most of the day but once he needs to go to the bathroom, they're there to torture him once more. Jihoon got worried when the latter didn't come back so he looked for him, finding him on the bathroom floor with a bloody lip and eye whilst people were surrounding him. 

Jihoon seriously wasn't kidding when he said he could beat them up. He practically drop kicked one huge giant and they backed out of the bathroom immediately, leaving him to clean up his gigantic kitten. "I swear I'm never leaving you on your own again." He says, eyes glistening with tears as he looks at his best friend who's trying his best to smile but the sides of his lips just can't curl upwards. 

What Jihoon says is the truth, after that incident he never leaves the latters side. Wonwoo's worried about Junhui. He's petrified at the fact that he could possibly go back to self harming and with all of those cuts, he might cut his ulnar artery. That's a treacherous thought. 

After that day Junhui thinks life could be worse so he keeps smiling until the next day rolls in and it's a little harder to be cheery. 

At lunch Wonwoo is sitting with his friends and Junhui needs to go to the bathroom. Jihoon goes with him because he does not want to kick someone else's ass again and once they leave the bathroom, Minghao is already dragging them outside, "What are you doing!?" Minghao turns out to be a 'pretty strong bitch' in Jihoons words as neither of them can get out of his grasp. 

It's only when the pair are in full view of Wonwoo sticking his tongue down some girls throat that Minghao releases them. 

"I think that's the person he's in love with, Jihoonie. Or she's sad..." Junhui whispers to his best friend, unable to look away at the sight before him. "Why would she be sad, Junnie? She looks happy to me. You don't need to see this let's go." He pulls on Junhuis hand, Wonwoo turning around once Minghao pointed towards a direction and looking at Junhui, forced smile on his face and Wonwoo hopes he hasn't seen anything. 

"Wonwoo said in his hometown they kiss each other to cheer them up..." Junhui mumbles, taking Jihoons hand and intertwining their fingers together. "Did he kiss you, Junhui?" There's a hint of anger in his voice but he looks over it, answering honestly.

"He did but that was only when I thought you hated me! And then I kissed him because he looked sad and back in China we don't really have anything like that but then he said when that person is happier, they kiss the person back. It's kind of strange. Do you have that kind of tradition in Busan, Jihoonie?" He wonders. 

"He was bullshitting you, Junhui. There's no such thing as kissing someone when they're sad! It's not a tradition he just used you to get fucking pleasure. He's an absolute sleaze." Jihoon scowls, using his free hand to hit it against the table. "I'm confused..." Well that's one way to sum up the turn of events anyway. 

"I'm not. That piece of shit took advantage of you and he doesn't care about anyone but himself." Taking out his phone he gets on twitter, messaging Wonwoo. 

 

**justjihoon:**

Lol okay you really must be a piece of shit, huh?

You sure as hell act like one

 

Within seconds he gets a response, Junhui catching Wonwoo turning around to look at them, confusion on his face. 

 

**Wonda-and-Coswoo:**

wtf happened to a truce??? 

I thought we were tolerating eachother

for Jun??? 

 

"Tolerate eachother my ass." He scoffs, Junhui replying with "Please calm down, Jihoonie. You're getting scary..." 

 

**justjihoon:**

Lolol you think we're going to have

a truce when my own best friend

told me that your sleazy ass

kissed him as a 'way to cheer people up'? how funny

 

**justjihoon:**

Lmao you know I actually thought

you genuinely liked him but no

the minute he's not looking you're 

sticking your tongue

down some rich chicks throat

 

**Wonda-and-Coswoo:**

my friends dared me to!!! 

and sure maybe i shouldn't have taken advantage 

of the situation but I love him jihoon and i think he feels the same way

i really do have feelings for him

i just messed up :/ 

 

**justjihoon:**

'maybe'? MAYBE? YOU SHOULDN'T 

HAVE DONE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE

I highly fucking doubt you love him, Wonwoo

I love him, you don't

You don't claim to love somebody then

get your hands on the nearest thing in sight

 

**justjihoon:**

You know what really sucks? (': 

The fact that he actually believes you're 

a good person. 

And the fact that he gives a fuck about you

Just makes it worse. 

Enjoy your STD infested chick who wants to hop on your dick

I'm sure she'll be a blast (:

 

**Wonda-and-Coswoo:**

you aren't listening to me

it was a dare jihoon

seriously that's all it was

 

"Should've declined the dare now shouldn't you?" Jihoon says aloud, loud enough for Wonwoo to hear. "Jihoonie..?" Junhui calls out in a small voice, afraid of upsetting the younger even further. "Sorry, Junnie. I didn't mean to scare you." Knowing his best friends apology is sincere he hugs the younger, a big smile on his face even though his heart aches. "It's okay. When you get mad or sad it'll never change my opinion on you, Jihoon. Never ever." Jun giggles softly, the warm embrace and sound calming him down. "I know." 

_______________________________

 

So you'd think _how low can low get_ for Junhui? Pretty low if you ask me. Yesterday was a wreck. Wonwoo isn't talking to him, Jihoon still hasn't returned back to normal, the kids at school voices keep getting louder and louder, he can't go home to see his parents. Everything that felt so **perfect** is now broken, just how it was before. 

Today isn't any better either. 

His heart hurts, no ─ the stinging sensation is excruciatingly painful and it's unending. **Hurt** isn't a word that can describe how he's feeling so easily. Junhui can't lie to himself anymore. He's in love with Wonwoo and he doesn't want to. But of course it was only a kiss, right? It's not like Wonwoo tried to hurt him on purpose. 

Why are his feelings for Jihoon so different, though? It's not heartrending like it was with Mingming. It's not harrowing or insufferable like it is with Wonwoo. It's nice. It sparks something inside of him and it heals his heart, little by little. It makes him feel _protected_ , in a way. There's never a day where Junhui isn't smiling whilst Jihoon is around; his smiles are probably the biggest when he's with him.

Also why is it that he picks Jihoon for **everything**? Whether it's writing about a time you were happy or a simple quote that he knows the younger would love, everything adds up to Jihoon. Are best friends supposed to feel that way about eachother? 

His feelings for Jihoon aren't brotherly type of feelings, neither of that of friends. But love? He's in love with Wonwoo. He can't be in love with Jihoon, surely not. Because the only love he has right now is painful and that's how it was before as well so love doesn't make you feel good. Then what are these feelings supposed to be called? 

School starts out okay. Junhui is smiling as usual and laughing along with Jihoon at their inside jokes. Wonwoo is with his friends and has yet to make an effort to come over and speak to him.

"Jihoooniiiieeee~ Let's just go to the music room for today." He pleads, tugging on the youngers sleeve because well, why should he have to be an awkward person for the whole day just because Wonwoo is being his usual cold self? 

"Sure." Although there is a smile on his face, Junhui knows it's not real and that something is bothering him. He takes off with his best friend, walking past Wonwoo and ignoring how his chest feels like it's getting tighter. 

They get to the music room, Jihoon plopping down on one of the beanbags and Jun sitting in front of him. "What's wrong? You seem upset..." Junhui asks, knowing being direct is the only way he'll get the answer.

"I'm not upset I'm just wondering about something." Jihoon replies, playing with the blue strands of his hair. "Whatcha thinking about, partner?" Junhui smiles, trying out his best cowboy accent. "Well technically you had your first kiss with Wonwoo and he sucks so I'm bothered that you didn't have your first kiss with someone who's not an ass, I guess..."  Also the fact that his first kiss wasn't with him bothers him greatly.

"Ahhh, don't worry about it, Jihoonie! I'm just gullible. I thought he actually liked me but I guess not." Junhui laughs it off, punching Jihoon in the shoulder. "A lot of people like you, Junnie." Jihoon says sincerely, including himself on that list of people who love him. "Nah. A lot of people like you, Jihoonie! Soon you'll find yourself a super cool guy and you'll fall in love and have babies!! He better not take you away from me though or I'll marry you myself!" Junhui pouts yet he's feeling weird. Why does seeing Jihoon with someone else annoy him? 

What if all along it's never been Wonwoo, but it's been Jihoon? No...That's not it. Best friends can only be best friends and it wouldn't be fair to Jihoon since he's in love with Wonwoo and saying that will only confuse him. 

"Nobody could take me away from you, Jun. You're my home, remember? If I left my home then I'd be homeless, idiot." Finally Jihoon is smiling and Jun wouldn't have it any other way. "But you're my home too so technically, you'd never be homeless..." 

"Don't ruin this moment, Moon Junhwi." 

"DON'T USE MY FULL NAME I'M SORRY." He shrieks. 

"Whatever you say, Jerry." 

________________________________

"Wonwooie?" During Junhuis 'pee break' Wonwoo had stolen him away to another room. "Junnie I've been trying to talk to you ever since yesterday. They told me to kiss her as a dare I promise that's all it was." His back is pressed up against the wall and Wonwoo is so close he's not sure whether he's going to die from how fast his heart is beating. 

"...Did you lie about how in your hometown they kiss to make someone happy?" Junhui gulps when Wonwoos gaze intensifies. "I did but I really wanted to kiss you and─"

"That's so mean..." Junhui looks down, playing with his sleeves. "I love you, Wen Junhui. And I know you love me too." With that his eyes shoot up and his erratic heartbeat isn't slowing down. "That's really cocky, Wonwoo." 

He wants to continue talking and say how overconfident he is but before he can Wonwoo gets rid of the distance in between them by kissing his lips. "Wonwooie...sto-" His words get caught in his throat as the kiss continues. He doesn't know what's happening all he knows is that when he kisses back, his heart feels like it's being crushed and starved of oxygen and he's not sure if he enjoys the sensation or not.  

Once they separate, Wonwoo grabs his hand and places it on his own heart, Junhui blushing as he feels the fast paced thumping of Wonwoos heart. "Loving you is painful, Wonwooie. I don't want to love you." He shakes his head, burying his face in Wonwoos shoulder. "Junnie. Please look at me." Shyly he looks up once more. "I **promise** I'll make you extremely happy and I'm not asking you to be my boyfriend right now but all I'm asking for is a chance to prove to you that you're the only one I want." 

The word promise is what has Junhui sold. He believes it's a pact that can't be broken so that's why he always keeps his promises. (Wonwoo's never kept his.) "...Okay." 

________________________________

After that incident the rest of the day goes well, I suppose. If you think getting called names is a good day then it's one of those days. He hasn't told Jihoon about what happened because well, he feels guilty. It's like sleeping with the enemy but he's not really your enemy and you don't sleep with him but your best friend hates his whole existence so basically...yeah. 

They're about to go home until Minghao stops the pair in their tracks (Must be some sorcery kind of shit because they think their feet are stuck to the ground.) "What are you doing, Minghao?" Wonwoo makes his way over to them, a small smile on his face once he sees Junhui. 

"Oh, I just wanted Junhui over here to hear a recording." He smiles devilishly, putting the phone in front of Jihoon and Jun. In the video there's Wonwoo and his group of friends sitting at their usual table. ' _Are you jealous, Wonwoo? I thought all he was to you was a bet.'_

"Bet? What bet?" Junhui questions. ' _I'm not jealous at all. It's just a bet. The point was to make him fall in love with me so I can get the book I want. There's no feelings there.'_ The camera then points towards Junhui, stating that they were talking about him. 

"Minghao, what the hell? Junhui I─" 

"You see, Junhui. Wonwoo said it himself, he doesn't have feelings for you. We made a bet that if you fell in love with him in two months, I'd get him the book he's wanted for ages and if he lost the bet, he'd have to give up all of his friends and let me take his role which you obviously know is the pretty popular boy." 

Minghaos smile is soon ridden as Jihoon punches him in the face, gums bleeding. "You fuck with people's feelings like that for fun? For a bet with shitty prizes? That's disgusting, _you're_ disgusting. No, you're just an awful person. You, _Wonwoo_ , you're fucking repulsive." He turns to Wonwoo, repeating the same action as before, Wonwoo not speaking up. 

"You won your bet so congratulations, I guess. You can stop pretending now." Junhui smiles brightly though he's repressing tears. "Junhui I didn't mean it I do love you and it started off as a bet first but I fell in love with─" 

"It's fine, Wonwoo. We should go home, Jihoonie." Jihoon nods not before stepping on Wonwoos foot. "You have a _real_ great friend there, Wonwoo." He points at Minghao then walks towards the exit, fingers laced together with Junhuis. "Captain Wen!" Wonwoo calls out, Junhui freezing for a second but continues to walk on. 

"I hate you. You didn't have to tell him!" Wonwoo yells, pushing the younger back until he falls down then he goes running after Junhui. "That went well." Minghao says to himself, wiping the blood with the back of his hand. 

Wonwoos chase ultimately fails when he loses sight of the two boys and he gives up, deciding he doesn't have the right to follow after him. 

________________________________

"Are you okay, Junnie..?" Junhui's been silent the whole time and a silent Junhui is not a Junhui at all. "I'm fine, Jihoonie. I'm always fine so don't worry." If fine is feeling like you're worthless and nobody actually likes you then yes, Junhui is **fine**. More than fine. 

"I don't think you're fine." He states, wondering how they ended up underneath a bridge. "Don't worry, Jihoonie! Life could be worse so there's no need to be sad." He sits under the bridge, making room for Jihoon to sit beside him. "Wen Junhui." He says sternly but softens his tone as his best friend isn't letting his guard down. "Lee Jihoon." He replies. 

"Everybody hurts, Jun. You don't have to keep holding it in. You **do** know it's okay to be sad, don't you?" 

"Yep! But there's nothing to be sad over. I'm not gonna break, Jihoonie. I'm just stuck with you now." Junhui laughs at the last part, nudging the youngers shoulder. Jihoon _could_ continue trying to make his best friend crack but he doesn't. He rests his head on his shoulder, taking in all that's happened this week and he's shocked at how Jun's not cried once. "That's fine, Junnie. I'm cooler than everyone else anyway." Junhui nods in agreement, resting his head on top of Jihoons.

"It's us against the world!" Jun shouts, the loud voice echoing throughout the silence. 

"As long as you're by my side I don't mind if it's us against the world." 

"Since when did you get so cheesy? New York must've changed your tsundere ways!" 

"Shut up." 

"Anddddd now the tsundere's back." 

________________________________

You would think since Wonwoo won the bet he'd be ecstatic but he's not. For the first time someone got to know him and he ended up hurting them. _Does love hurt?_ It hurts more than stepping on a plug and we **all** know how painful that is. 

Jihoon blocked him (not surprising) so he can't ask how Junhui is doing (he wouldn't have told him anyway) and well, things just suck.

The thing that gets to him more is that people didn't believe him when he said he was in love with latter. Is he really that closed off? Do people see him not having emotions? He cares, a lot. He's not a cold person nor is he a 'bad' one. He just messed up. He messed up **massively**. 

He should've said no to the bet. He should've fallen for him the **right** way. But is there ever really a right way? That's why we have so many different love stories. Some start off as tragedies and some end in bliss and that's just the way it is. 

 The one part that doesn't change is the middle. You never fall in love with someone at first sight, or maybe you do and we've yet to see one. It's always in the middle where you find out you're in love with someone but sometimes just **sometimes** you don't find out that you love someone until the very end and that's a very heartbreaking realisation. So maybe the middle doesn't change but realising it does. 

We say, _'In another lifetime you could've been mine._ ' That's what we say when we can't have who we want ─ who we **need**. The truth is, in another lifetime they couldn't be yours because you haven't changed. You're still you. And they're still them. The only thing different is you're in another lifetime, another time where technology is either advanced or not. A time where the world is deteriorating or if it's getting better. 

Time can change things but that doesn't mean it can change the outcome. 

Still, Wonwoo likes to keep hope. If he proves himself then Junhui can fall for the guy who was supposedly a facade; an illusion that everyone thought Wonwoo forced himself to be. 

Junhui was no different. His flawless facade masks the sadness he feels within. 

It's as if the two are at a public masquerade party and they're the only ones who wear a mask. 

_________________________________

When Junhui gets home he instantly goes to his bed, Jihoon climbing under the covers with him. "Junnie, you need to eat something." He mumbles, Junhui turning to face him. "I'm not hungry, Jihoonie. You need to eat something though." His smile is small and he takes out some jelly snacks, giving them to the younger. "When I said something I don't mean jelly snacks, that's not going to fill you up." Jihoon huffs, Junhui using him as a pillow. "Eat themmm~" He whines then continues, "I promise I'll make you something later so eat these until then." In the end Jihoon agrees to eating the jelly snacks as long as the latter doesn't make anything too spicey. 

"Jihoonie, you'll be here when I wake up, right?" It takes a few seconds for Jihoon to realise Junhui is hiding under the blanket. "Of course I'll be here Junnie. Shouldn't I be more worried that you're not going to be here? You keep hiding." Jihoon flips Junhuis original question causing him to pull Jihoon under the covers and he begins whispering, acting as though they're on a spy mission and they're about to get caught. 

"Shh Agent Lee! The criminals might find us." He deepens his voice, Jihoon doing the same. 

"You're right, Agent Wen. We can't be caught by the Super Smash Bros! I hear they have 99 lives." 

"That's more than cats! I need to get home to my kids, Agent Lee!" 

"You have kids, Agent Wen?" 

"My plushies. . .It still counts." He finds one of his plushies and gives it a squeeze, Jihoon chuckling at the sight. 

"I thought you were going to sleep, Junnie. Or did you just want to look at your best friends face more?" He teases. "You're cute Jihoonie so _obviously_. I'll sleep now!" Junhui turns on his side, noticing how Jihoon is blushing. "Don't be embarrassed Jihoonieeee." 

"Aishhh shut up. Sweet dreams." 

________________________________

After an hour Junhui has fallen asleep so now, Jihoon is skyping his parents in his kitchen. "How are you? Did you get home safe? How's Junhui!? Are you finally together?" His parents  ask question after question. 

"If I didn't return safely I wouldn't be skyping you just to receive all of this harassment." He rolls his eyes but he's excited to see his parents. 

"Tell us!!" _If only they weren't so nosy..._

"You know the guy Jun was hanging around with?" 

"That Wonwoo boy?" His father joins in on the conversation. 

"Yeah, _him_. Anyway, the only reason Wonwoo started talking to him was because he had a bet with Minghao and the bet was to make Junnie fall in love with him in two months..." 

"When you were in New York? That's it! I'm coming home to tell that young mans parents about his behaviour. HONEY, PACK MY BAGS!" 

"Dear, please calm down." 

"No ─ wait. Does Junhui know?" 

"We found out today." 

"Anddd?" 

"And what? Oh my God you seriously want to know how it turned out?" 

 "Obviously." They both say at the same time, disturbing Jihoon slightly. "He said he won the bet." He looks over to Junhuis bedroom then back at the screen. "Do you want me to be honest with you, Jihoon?" His mother asks, no hints of sarcasm are detected in her voice. 

"You're going to say it anyway. I already know I have no chance with him, Mom." A stinging sensation hits him and within about ten seconds he begins crying. 

"I honestly think he's in love with you, Jihoon. He doesn't realise it yet because Wonwoo has hurt him but I'm certain that he's in love with you." 

"How are you so sure?" He sniffles, taking off his blazer to dry his tears. 

"Easily. Junhui looks at you the way I look at your father and I love him more than anything in the world. Apart from you, of course." 

Even though they're unaware, Junhui woke up in the middle of their skype call and he can hear every single word. "I love Jihoonie?" He says it so quietly that Jihoon can't hear him. 

He recalls what his mother said to him when she was saying her goodbyes. 

" _Who makes you the happiest, Junhui?"_

_"Jihoonie does but he's mad at me..."_

_"And how do you feel about that?"_

_"I don't know. It hurts more than losing Mingming."_

_"Who do you think of most?"_

_"Jihoonie but I don't understand why you're saying this, Màmà."_

_"What does Jihoon mean to you, Junnie?"_

_"What he means to me? I'm not sure."_

_"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure you'll find out what he means to you soon enough."_

_"This was a really strange conversation."_

_"I think it will all make sense soon."_

"But I still don't know..." He says this to himself and once everything dials down, he leave the bedroom, putting on his best smile. "Jihoonie, do you want to help me make dinner now?" Once Jihoon turns around his eyes are red and his lips are puffy. 'I hurt him...' is what he thinks. "Sure Junnie." 

So now they're currently cutting peppers and potatoes together, some slices flinging in the opposite direction. Junhui cuts a chilli pepper, placing it on his top lip. "Jihoonie, I moustache you a question." Junhui giggles, also eliciting a few laughs from Jihoon too. "Can you shave it for later?" The latter plays along. 

"How about I cut it short?"

"Nah just trim it down a little." The two burst into a fit of laughter, Junhui clinging onto Jihoons shoulder and Jihoon is playfully punching his chest. 

That's how they spend the rest of their night; laughing at lame jokes, dancing to Boys Republic, singing to Block B and just enjoying each other's presence. 

Wonwoo appears in his mind a few times and the heartache hurts like hell, so much that he wants to cry but Jihoon is helping him forget that the whole incident even happened. 

"You know, you'd look really cool with a beard." Junhui comments, now sitting outside and staring up at the starry sky. "Okay we **both** know I wouldn't look good with a beard." 

"Maybe not." Junhui thinks for a while about what he should say but silence said it all. Even if Junhui is confused he'll always be there for Jihoon. He'll be there to cheer him up when he's feeling low, ready to hug him unexpectedly just to see his exasperated smile and ready to catch him whenever he falls down. After laughing at him, of course. 

________________________________

 School is...well, it's school. And Wonwoo hates it more than anything at the moment. 

He watches Jihoon drag Jun along, fingers laced together and he doesn't know who he wants to punch more: Jihoon or Minghao. 

And if matters could be worse, Jihoon makes eye contact with Wonwoo and he tightens his grip on the latters hand. 

"Here's your book!" Minghao grins, placing the sold out book in Wonwoos hands. "I don't want it anymore." he grunts, throwing the book to the floor. The action causes Junhui to look in his direction and Wonwoo's lost for words. Rather than letting him go, Wonwoo gets up, leaving his phone unlocked on the table then makes his way towards their table. 

"Let's look at his photos." Jeonghan snickers, looking through his photos that mostly consisted of of himself but one photo has caught his eye. It's a picture of Junhui and his arms are covered in cuts. "Minghao, take a look at this." Minghao comes over, a sad look on his face but is covered up with a smirk quickly. "You should tweet it." 

"I think I should. The bet's over now so it should be fine." 

[ Wonda-and-Coswoo: **Here is the arms of no other than Wen Junhui! @justjihoon did your best friend ever tell you about this? ||image attached||** ] 

"Did it." 

The pair look over at Wonwoo and they just don't get it. Why is he still trying to talk to him? 

"Wonwooie...Hi." Junhui looks up at the latter, a strained smile on his face. "Can you leave? Class starts soon." Jihoon snaps at him. _Well, he does kind of deserve it. "_ Oh um...Yeah, sorry for bothering you." To cut the conversation short the bell rings and Wonwoo leaves to go to his class. 

________________________________

Throughout the day people are constantly laughing at Junhui (a lot calling him names as well such as 'emo' 'freak of nature' 'scar boy') and he's not sure why. Nobody knows about his self harm so why are they calling him that? 

The art teacher has left _again_. Seriously, I don't know how she has a job with how much time she spends in the teachers lounge. 

Jihoon is checking his twitter and he sees a notification that has him mentioned. "Wonwoo? Why did you mention me in your─" his face drops as he reads the tweet. "Junhui, what is this?" He shoves the phone in his face, Junhui staring at Wonwoo in utter disbelief. 

"Why did you do that? I told you not to tell anyone!" He yells, tears forming in his eyes. He feels naked; like his secret has left him bare and vulnerable. 

"Junnie I didn't tell anyone I swear I didn't send that..."

"You still took the picture! Why would you even do that? You won your bet! That should've been enough." He can't bring himself to look at Jihoon or the others in the classroom so he runs and pushes past the teacher and he forces his way out of school, running back to his bungalow. 

⏪Play Shallow by Carys Selvey⏩

It seems like forever but he makes it to his house and once he gets in, he locks himself in the bathroom, blade in hand. 

You would think he wouldn't want to add more scars to his wrist because of his new nicknames but everything has been building up for so long, he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. 

The list of reasons on why he feels like dying are endless. He's hurt Jihoon, he just yelled at Wonwoo. He's poor; he can't make anyone who wants materials happy. He hasn't done anything to help his parents get out of debt. He was such a terrible friend that Mingming left him. He's not really worth anything to anyone. Nobody in society would give him a second glance if they knew his story and that's what kills him the most. 

"I want to stop feeling..." After years of bottling up tears and taking abuse, he's past breaking point. 

"Take me to neverland, or somewhere just anywhere but here." The floods of tears are never ending as he starts slicing into hid wrist, the dark red blood staining his white shirt. The cuts start off small until he gets tired of the small cuts and wants bigger ones. 

He just wants to feel like he's worth something. Is that too much to ask for? 

He begins to panic as he cuts on his ulnar vein, the red liquid oozing out of his skin and onto his clothes just as fast as his tears that are cascading down his cheeks. 

"Maybe I can be a lost boy now." He smiles bitterly, not sure on how he can stop the excessive bleeding. 

"Can I be a lost boy, even if it's only for a minute?" He closes his eyes, head leaning against the bathtub. He's imagining being in Neverland and holding hands with Peter Pan as they fly on pixie dust. He's truly happy and nothing can tear him down. He dares to dream that Neverland is his real reality and not this one but he's feeling dizzy and that thought is interrupted by a kick on the door. 

 "Junhui! Oh my God what have you done?" He grabs a cloth and applies pressure to the deep wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "I didn't know how else to stop the pain J-Jihoonie." He stutters, tears and snot pouring out of him. "Why did you never tell me?" He bites back a tear. "Smiley Junnie and smiley Jihoonie are the best version of Jun and Jihoon. I didn't want to make you sad..." It's as though he's drunk off of his own sadness and he's spilling out his heart. 

"Junhui, I love you, okay? I said it was alright to cry!" Once the bleeding stops he cleans the dried up blood off of his arms. "If I say I love you too, you'll leave. If you leave then I don't know who I am anymore. I'll feel like I've lost the other half that completes me. You're my best friend, Jihoonie. I don't wanna cry, it hurts so much." He wails, Jihoon bringing him in for a hug. 

"Junnie, I'm not going to leave you. Just cry. Even if it hurts you'll feel better after it." _Um, no he won't he'll have a massive headache..._ "You should be in school." 

"So should you but I think this is more important." 

________________________________

"Who the hell sent that tweet?" Wonwoo has his friends up in a corner. "I did." Jeonghan answers, Wonwoo about to dropkick him into the next decade. "Why would you do that? You already treat him like shit. Now everyone is going to treat him even worse and it's all your fault!" He emphasizes the word 'fault.' 

"Is it _really_ my fault, though? You're the only one who took that picture of him. Doesn't that make **you** the cause of all of his problems?" He retorts, words laced with venom because he knows it will hurt the younger.

"Some of us actually liked Junhui, Jeonghan. You're the one who tweeted the picture and now look where Jun is, he's not here." Seungkwan speaks up, siding with Wonwoo. "You liked that kid? He's not going to help you get job opportunities, Seungkwan." 

"I don't care! He likes listening to my singing and he's fun to talk to. I thought if Wonwoo could show him he's not a horrible person then he would believe we're not terrible but you just ruined it."

"Oh well."

"Yes. Oh well for you because you just lost a friend."

"Oh well."

________________________________

Tonight is the first night Junhui is sleeveless. Instead of staying at his house, Jihoon made him go to his house instead (mostly because they had a proper first aid kit.) 

After watching many hours of 'Try Not To Laugh' challenges, the two boys are talking about their years together. 

"I remember when you wrote a letter to mr and you said, 'I saw a fairy! Her name was Clarice and she said I'm a lost boy!' I think that was when you started calling yourself a lost boy." Jihoon smiles small, Junhui playing with his hands. 

"Or that time when you sent me a letter saying you were going to die from a Zombie invasion and when I was able to respond you said it was just your Mom waking up in the morning." Junhui comments. 

"It was scary and I vow to **never** wake up at the same time as her ever again." Jihoon whines. 

"Thank you..for being in my life, obviously. Not that you made me think there was Zombies attacking Busan because that was scary." Junhui grins, gripping the youngers fingers gently. "Thank you for being in my life too, Junnie."  It's moments like these where Junhuis broken heart mends just a tiny bit more and it's moments like these where Jihoon doesn't regret falling in love with him. 

________________________________

It's been two months since Wonwoo won his bet and it still pains him when he catches Jihoon smothering Junhui with kisses (You wouldn't expect that from a tsundere, right?) but he's trying his best to move on. 

"You really love him, don't you?" He hears Seungkwan ask. 

"I do." He replies.

"Then why aren't you chasing after him?" 

"He's a lost boy and he needs a Peter Pan but I'm a Captain Hook." 

"Captain Hook was once a good guy." 

"But he was never good enough." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So um..idk whether this is a good end because like it depends on who you were routing for really...XDDD I cried idk why I'm just an emotional child when it comes to Jun or Wonhui 
> 
> KUDOS AND COMMENTSSS I wanna see if it got you in the feels also did the songs give impact? I thought it did o-o 
> 
> This really is just my imagination xDD So like please don't think that Junhui may be actually feeling like that kaayy??? Also i know some characters were jerks to junnie (they're angels irl) 
> 
> I have fluffier Wonhui fics on the way like I have a youtuber au fic where Jun and Minghao are youtubers and their channel is called weirdlythuggish (idk i liked the name) and Jihoon is their best friend and he's in pledis w/ the rest of seventeen members and tsundere Wonwoo ends up falling in love with Jun the dork asdfghjkl 
> 
> I legit have 44 wonhui ideas I kid you not (like an angel au and one where Chan calls up Wonwoo to babysit and he finds out he has to babysit 21 year old Jun) STUFF LIKE THATTTTT xD Why did I write angsty wonhui idk why I would do that to my OTP


End file.
